CARMEL, Ind. — Saving lives is just one of his callings.
"Through trial and error, I found the fire department," Carmel firefighter Grant Russel said. "It's been the best decision I've ever made."
When Russel isn't fighting fires, he likes to unwind a little differently than his peers. He changes his shoes and heads to a cramped stairwell at the firehouse where the acoustics are just right.
"That's just kind of where I go away from everybody and the noise kind of goes down, so it can just be me and the dancing there in that little area," Russel said.
It's where he practices tap dancing. His love for it began as a child.
"I was inspired by Gene Kelly back in the day from 'Singin' in the Rain,'" Russel said. "I grew up watching those movies, and I just thought that was super cool."
He's dancing with a purpose. Any downtime is spent preparing for an upcoming musical with a community theater, something that's rooted deep in Russel's life.
"Both my parents met doing theater, and they kind of inspired me for the love of performing on the stage," he said. "Any chance I could tap dance on stage, I would."
Not only did his parents meet there, but community theater is where Russel met his wife, Lauren. She's also his co-star, in the upcoming production of "Holiday Inn" at Footlite Musicals on selects dates from Nov. 19-Dec. 12.
The Nov. 21 show will be free for frontline workers, active military, and veterans and reduced admission for everyone else in your party.
"It's really important to keep that alive in our family and keep that going, especially with our boys," Lauren said.
"She's also learning a little bit of the tapping because she didn't really grow up dancing doing tap," Grant said. "I'm able to help her that way, and we kind of bond over that."
With three kids and a fireman's schedule, making rehearsals is a rarity.
"When I first got hired here, just to get it out of the way, I was like, 'Oh, hi, my name is Grant, and oh, by the way, I tap dance,'" Grant said.
But he makes it work at work by practicing, perfecting and even entertaining his peers.
"They're looking at me like [I'm] crazy," he said. "'This guy tap dances? I've never seen anybody tap dance.'"
"I thought, 'Hey, that's really cool. That's really a unique thing, especially in our profession,'" said fellow Carmel firefighter Tim Griffin.
"When the call drops, I know that I shift my mindset into 'helping people mode,'" Grant said of the profession that always expects the unexpected. "And then when I come back, I can go back to tap mode."