This week is Fire Prevention Week in the United States, so in honor of that, I present a story from my days as a volunteer firefighter.
Ever since I can remember, members of my family have been involved with the local volunteer fire department, either as the fire chief, a firefighter, or fire police. I can remember the times when I would hear the fire trucks and be off on my bike, in search of what they were responding to. Upon arrival, though, I was usually chased back home by a family member, as the scene was not a place for me, but it would be eventually.
On my sixteenth birthday, I turned in my membership application to the fire
department and was accepted as a junior firefighter. According to Pennsylvania child labor laws, I was restricted to certain activities and could only respond to emergency calls at specific hours. The department held training every week which I attended, and began down a path to helping out my community. Since I was a junior and still relatively new, there were only certain things I could do while on scene at an incident. Usually I took care of getting items needed or assisting other firefighters with things.
Our department was invited to parades, which we attended with at least one or two trucks. The first parade I attended I found that I did not have any black shoes, but I did have my old white sneakers. Someone produced a can of black paint, and ten minutes later I had some black shoes. Parades were always fun to attend, as you get to meet other departments and perhaps see some old friends. It was a nice change from the normal emergency responses I was accustomed to.
Over the course of the 5 years I ran with the department, I had been on numerous
calls, just doing my part to give back to the community. I had seen a lot of things, perhaps more than I care to. One call stands out in my mind, as I received an award for saving a life. The call was an automobile accident with someone trapped. I was part of the crew that opened the door with our hydraulic rescue tool to allow medical personnel access to the patients and get them to the hospital quickly. I never really volunteered for the glory, but it was nice to be recognized, and felt good knowing I had helped out a fellow human being.