I Wish You Could

See the sadness of a business man as his livelihood goes up in flames, or that family returning home, only too find their house and belongings damaged or lost for good.

Know what it is like too search a burning bedroom for trapped children, flames rolling above your head, your palms and knees burning as you crawl, the floor sagging under your weight as the kitchen below you burns.

Comprehend a wife's horror at 3a.m. as I check her husband of 40 years for a pulse and find none. I start CPR anyway, hoping to bring him back, knowing intuitively it is too late. But wanting his wife and family to know everything possible was done too try too save his life.

Know the unique smell of burning insulation, the taste of soot-filled mucus, the feeling of intense heat through your turnout gear, the sound of flames crackling, the eeriness of being able to see absolutely nothing in dense smoke-sensations that I've become too familiar with.

Understand how it feels to go to work in the morning after having spent most of the night, hot and soaking wet at a multiple alarm fire.

Read my mind as I respond to a building fire "Is this a false alarm or a working fire? How is the building constructed?
What hazards await me? Is anyone trapped?" Or to an EMS call, "What is wrong with the patient? Is it minor or life-threatening? Is the caller really in distress or is he waiting for us with a 2x4 or a gun?"

Be in the emergency room as a doctor pronounces dead the beautiful five-year old girl that I have been trying too save during the past 25 minutes - who will never go on her first date or say the words, "I love you Mommy" again.

Know the frustration I feel in the cab of the engine or my personal vehicle, the driver with his foot pressing down hard on the pedal, my arm tugging again and again at the air horn chain, as you fail to yield the right-of-way at an intersection or in traffic.
When you need us however, your first comment upon our arrival will be, "It took you forever to get here!"

Know my thoughts as I help extricate a girl of teenage years from the remains of her automobile. "What if this was my sister, my girlfriend or a friend? What were her parents reaction going to be when they opened the door to find a police officer with hat in hand?"

Know how it feels to walk in the back door and greet my parents and family, not having the heart to tell them that I nearly did not come back from the last call.

Feel the hurt as people verbally, and sometimes physically, abuse us or belittle what I do, or as they express their attitudes of "It will never happen to me."

Realize the physical, emotional and mental drain or missed meals, lost sleep and forgone social activities, in addition to all the tragedy my eyes have seen.

Know the brotherhood and self-satisfaction of helping save a life or preserving someone's property, or being able to be there in time of crisis, or creating order from total chaos.

Understand what it feels like to have a little boy tugging at your arm and asking, "Is Mommy okay?" Not even being able to look in his eyes without tears from your own and not knowing what to say.
Or to have to hold back a long time friend who watches his buddy having rescue breathing done on him as they take him away in the ambulance. You know all along he did not have his seat belt on. A sensation that I have become too familiar with.

Unless you have lived with this kind of life, you will never truly understand or appreciate who I am, we are, or what our job really means to us...

I wish you could though

Unknown "Devy Pooh*NFS*" Uncertain - 16 years, 9 months, 15 days ago

A FIREFIGHTER'S
PRAYER

-Anon
When I am called to duty, God
Whenever flames may rage,
Give me the strength to save some life
Whatever be its age,
Help me embrace a little child
Before it is too late
Or save an older person from
The horror of that fate
Enable me to be alert and
Hear the weakest shout
And quickly and efficiently
To put the fire out
I want to fill my calling and
To give the best in me,
To guard my every neighbor and
Protect his property
And if according to my fate
I am to lose my life,
Please bless with your
protecting hand
My children and my wife

Unknown "Devy Pooh*NFS*" Uncertain - 16 years, 9 months, 15 days ago

A Firefighter's Tears
The alarm rang, as it had so many times before.
He was the first of the firefighters up and out,
Awakened from his bed at the station
By the clanging of the bell.
Engine 12 pulled out of the hall,
Dispatch paged another station.
And all the firemen aboard the truck
Were tensed with anticipation
" It's gonna be a nice 'un, boys,"
He said as he donned his gear.
And the young bucks smiled at him
As they drew ever near.
They turned onto his own street
And he could see the fire's work
He hoped their mother woke his kids
To see their dad at work.
His heart sank as he saw the home
That he so dearly loved
Going up in Smoke and Flames
As he donned his gloves.
Aggressively he hit the fire
And searched the rooms above.
And with a flare of personal vengeance
He saved what remained of his home.
As he left the world of flaming hell
He saw his little girl
He ran quickly to her side and said,
"Honey, Daddy's here."
He would never forget what next she said:
As he held her close,
"I love you, Daddy," she whimpered,
And he began to weep.
She died in his arms that night...
The others, later on....
His comrades gave him their respects
but his Family was gone.
He sits alone at the station, now,
There's no more spring in his step.
He stays detached from his fellows
to avoid once again being hurt.
He risks it all in fires, now,
No more concerns for his safety.
He has taken a solemn vow.
He won't let it happen to another,
as long as he's around
Unknown "Devy Pooh*NFS*" Uncertain - 16 years, 9 months, 15 days ago

The Last Alarm
My father was a fireman, he drove a big red truck
And when he'd go to work each day he'd say "Mother, wish me luck"
Then dad would not come home again until sometime the next day
But the thing that bothered me the most was the things some folks would say
A fireman's life is easy, he eats and sleeps and plays,
and sometimes he won't fight a fire for many, many days
When I first heard these words I was young to understand
But I knew when people had trouble Dad was there to lend a hand

Then my father went to work one day and kissed us all goodbye
but little did we realize that night we all would cry
My father lost his life that night when the floor gave way below
And I wondered why he'd risked his life for someone he did not know
But now I truly realize the greatest gift a man can give
is to lay his life upon the line so that someone else might live
so as we go from day to day and pray to God above
Say a prayer for your local fireman
He may save the ones you love

Unknown "Devy Pooh*NFS*" Uncertain - 16 years, 9 months, 15 days ago