A firefighter’s helmet can carry meaning far beyond the job. 

It can represent the department where a firefighter first served, the years spent training and responding alongside a crew, or the example a child sees long before he is old enough to understand the responsibility that comes with the work. 

For Bullard, that is where the pride lives. Our products are built for firefighters, but once they are worn in the field, they become part of real careers, real departments, and sometimes, real family legacies. 

For the Kitchen family, that connection spans three generations. 

“Bullard was always part of what I saw growing up around the firehouse,” Tyler said. “My Papaw wore it. My dad wore it. So when I think about Bullard, I think about the people who made me want to do this job.” 

Raymond Kitchen, known to his family as Papaw, volunteered with Bourbon County Fire & Rescue in Kentucky after friends and coworkers introduced him to the department. During those years, Raymond wore Bullard. 

His son, Jeff Kitchen, later followed his own path into public safety. He also began his fire service career with Bourbon County, then served as a Lieutenant in Paris, Kentucky before finishing his career with Cynthiana, Kentucky. He retired after 20 years in the fire service. For much of that career, Jeff wore Bullard too. 

By the time Jeff’s son, Tyler, was old enough to walk, he was already spending time around the station. 

“I started hanging out at the stations with my dad when I was old enough to walk,” Tyler said.  

The firehouse became familiar early. Tyler grew up around the people, routines, conversations, and gear that shaped how he understood the job. Bullard was not something he discovered later. It was already part of the fire service he knew. 

One of his earliest memories brings that connection into focus. 

“My first helmet as a kid with my fire costume was an old red Bullard,” Tyler said.  

That helmet connected Tyler to the people he admired most. His Papaw had worn Bullard as a volunteer firefighter. His dad wore Bullard through much of his own career. To Tyler, the brand was tied to family, firehouses, and the path he already knew he wanted to follow. 

Tyler was involved in the junior firefighter program in Cynthiana at an early age. When he was hired at Bourbon County Fire & Rescue several years, ago, the same department his grandfather once volunteered for, and then moved on to nearby Paris (KY) Fire Department, he knew he was truly living his commitment to the fire service. Today, as a Lieutenant at Paris Fire, Tyle frequently thinks about his family’s roots in emergency response. 

“I got into it solely because that’s what my dad did,” Tyler said. “I knew that’s what I was gonna do.” 

Across three generations, the departments changed, the roles changed, and the gear evolved. The connection to service stayed close to home. 

For Bullard, stories like this are a reminder that the gear we build becomes part of real fire service lives. A helmet may begin as equipment, but in the hands of firefighters, it can become part of a career, a department, a family memory, and a child’s first picture of the job. 

For the Kitchen family, that legacy is now three generations strong and may continue as Tyler begins his family.