TAMPA, Fla. — When something happens on the road in Florida, it’s not always police or firefighters who show up to help first. It’s often Road Rangers from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) that are the first to respond.

This week, FDOT is recognizing them for Crash Responder Safety Week.

Willis Guzman has been a Road Ranger for the past seven years in Tampa Bay, assisting drivers with all sorts of trouble.

“We’re able to stop and help people. That’s the most satisfying part of the job,” Guzman said.

Willis decided to become a ranger after he was assisted by one when his car broke down on a busy highway.

“I applied and seven years later, I’ve been here,” Guzman said.

In that time, he’s seen it all: Break downs, crashes, tire replacements, dead batteries and debris in the road.

But when he’s on the side of the road helping someone, he wants other drivers to know he is there.

“It’s for our safety. At the end of the day, we have families. Children, wives, husbands to go home to. We want to get home safely as well. It’s not fun when we have someone flying by us going 70, 80 miles per hour coming extra close to us. That’s not fun,” Guzman said.

FDOT Road Rangers responded to 33,000 traffic incidents over the past year. It’s a free service the state offers to help clear congestion and prevent secondary crashes when something happens on the road.

Officials say they continue to add safety measures and training to keep their Road Rangers out of harm’s way.

For example, Willis puts out cones, flares and signs to stay safe.

But it’s knowing he’s helping others that keeps him going.

 “This job — it’s a very fulfilling job. The rewards that we get from helping people. I’ve had people be in situations where they are like, ‘You absolutely saved my life, I didn’t know what I was going to do,’” Willis said.

FDOT would also like to remind drivers to move over and slow down when they see a Road Ranger on the side of the road.