Many little girls and boys want to be firefighters when they grow up.
The same was true for Identical twins Manuel and Emmanuel Zuaznabar.
Their interest in becoming FDNY firefighters started with a toy drive in their Brooklyn neighborhood, CBS reported.
Coined the "Z brothers," the 29-year-old, half-Dominican half-Cuban twins grew up with limited resources.
"We grew up with immigrant parents. It was a rough upbringing in New York, and we went to a lot of after school programs. And the city had cops help us out, firefighters at toy drives. You see firefighters, they've always been heroes. So when we saw them, as I got older, I learned more about what they did and I decided that's what I wanted to do. I want to be that person for that kid in the neighborhood," Manuel said.
They joined the FDNY Firefighter Candidate Mentorship program back in 2018 which pairs FDNY mentors with candidates to help them complete the academy, which the twins did in 2020.
Manuel serves Ladder 123 and Emmanuel is at Ladder 110, both neighborhoods where they spent time growing.
"We respond to a lot of calls in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, and we have the projects there. I spent the majority of my teenage years in those projects. So if we get a call, I see someone I recognize, they'll be like, 'You're a firefighter?' And I see the pride in their faces, like one of us made it to that job."
They encourage the youths to consider joining the mentorship program to explore firefighting as a career.
"We really love to see that connection between young kids in New York and these programs and who they become when they come to the FDNY," FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said.
