Wednesday, October 17, 2001

 

Firefighters are everyday heroes

Patti at I Really Must Insist You Leave and Lavonne at : : b o r n f a m o u s : : both have interesting entries on firefighters as heroes. I also have looked upon firefighters as heroes for as long as I can remember.

I grew up living next door to a firefighter. His children are the same ages as me, my sister and brother so we all talked about their feelings everytime their father went out on a call -- and they weren't sure if he would come back. But, thankfully, he always did come back. He always downplayed what he did on those calls. We rarely knew what he did, how serious the call was, until we read it in the paper the next day.

Later in my life, I was the one who got to write those newspaper stories. Anyone who doesn't have an appreciation of the job firefighters do should work as a reporter and cover just one fire up close. There aren't many professions in which a person puts his life on the line for other people -- to save them and their property. Seeing the skill and dedication is awe-inspiring.

When I was the police/fire reporter, I used to say I liked writing fire stories "as long as no one gets hurt." That wasn't always the case. In the instances when people were injured, whether it be one of their own or a civilian, the firefighters always took it personally. I could see it in their eyes when they tried to hold back the tears, hear it in their cracking voices.

Fire stories when no one is injured are easy to write. You get to use phrases like "flames licked the sides of the house ...," "heat pushed firefighters back from the door but they pushed back with a vengence...," "thick, black smoke filled the air, billowing upward, creating ominous clouds in the dark night sky ...." As long as it was necessary to write stories about fires, the firefighters I worked with were happy with the work I did. Many of them thanked me for capturing the essence of their jobs.

I got to be friends with some of them, even spending time at the fire station instead of just calling on the phone when I needed to interview the chief or other firefighters. I feel honored that these heroes call me "friend." I've always called these men heroes.

posted by Anne 10/17/2001 08:19:00 AM