Jeremy Norton

Author/firefighter

Jeremy Norton is a twenty-year veteran firefighter/EMT with the Minneapolis Fire Department. He has saved lives, witnessed too many deaths, and is still yet to catch a baby. Originally from DC, he has degrees in Literature and Creative Writing from Boston universities; he has taught high school literature in DC, Chattanooga, TN, and Minneapolis, MN, and taught adult creative writing at Minneapolis’ Loft Literary Center. Norton joined the MFD in 2000, promoted to Captain in 2007, Battalion Chief in 2015, then returned to ride the rigs as Captain in 2017. He is in charge of Engine 17 in South Minneapolis. Their mascot is a sparkly unicorn, because, really, the world needs more unicorns. His memoir, Trauma Sponges: Dispatches from the Scarred Heart of Emergency Response, was published by University of MN Press in October 2023. He lives in Saint Paul, MN.