There’s almost certainly something in the water at one Iowa fire station. Over the last seven months, six of 22 firefighters at the Mediapolis Fire Department welcomed a new baby, creating a unique, but undeniably cute, situation for the firehouse.
“The running joke was that we were without fire calls for a while,” firefighter and proud dad Adam Welp told InsideEdition.com.
Welp’s son Kalvin was born in February but the small-town baby boom began last August, and the doting father said the incident is just pure coincidence. Mediapolis is located in southeastern Iowa with a population of 1,560, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“We didn’t plan it or anything; it just kind of snowballed,” he said. “We’ve been having a baby shower a month for the last seven months. It’s been kind of fun.”
Welp said that every firefighter expecting a daughter became a first-time dad, and every firefighter expecting a boy welcomed his second child.
With the recent influx of babies, the group of devoted firefighting dads developed a babysitting plan to implement when a call comes in.
“When we respond to a fire call, usually one of the other moms will come up with their husband, and we’ll all leave [our babies] there so they can play together,” Welp said of their child care system.
It’s been a real bonding experience for the firefighters and their families alike.
“We also hang out and see each other a lot, so we’ll bring them all around for that,” Welp said. “It was kind of nice to have a fire family to call home.”
We can’t wait to see if any of these adorable babies grow up to follow in the footsteps of their fathers!
