DOING WHAT THEY DO

Pick up a local newspaper, turn on a television to a local news channel, and you will soon find out that there have been quite a few fires of late. These are not just structure fires but grass and brush fires.

Whether it is a grass/brush fire or structure fire (being a home, apartment building, or commercial building) they both pose great dangers to our firefighters. These men and women put there lives on the line every single day so that they may save you or your property.

When you think of firemen, do you get the picture of a bunch men/women sitting around a table drinking coffee? Well part of that picture is correct, coffee is a staple in a firehouse. But very rarely are they just sharing the latest jokes they have heard. No these brave men and women are planning ahead. They are either discussing how they are going to attack the next fire, what tactics and equipment may be needed. If they are not discussing these things then they are most likely training on the skills they need to perform the tasks of putting out a fire. Firefighting is not as easy as it sounds of just putting water on a fire and it will go out. I am sure there are many people that wish it were, but it just isnt so.

Firemen must know many different things in order to actually exstinguish a fire. First and foremost they must know where the fire is. Now that sounds silly right, but actually it makes a ton of sense. If they were to pull up to a house and see smoke coming out of the front door, do you think they walk up to that door and open up the fire hose and hope they hit the fire. Nope. They must actually go in and find the fire and then begin to exstinguishment of the fire. They must know the type of construction they are dealing with. This determines how the fire will actually act and move. Without knowing this a firemen will just be chasing a fire or even worse actually spreading a fire. They must know how much fuel is burning, because this will determine how much water they need to exstinguish the fire. I know this sounds a little weird, most people think that firemen show up turn their hoses on and dont turn them off until the fire is out. That is not quite the way it works. They must how many gpms are needed to exstinguish the size of the fire they are facing. If they do not have enough gallons per minute or gpms, the fire they are fighting may get bigger or even worse.

Now take into consideration that all of this work is done in what they call full bunker gear. The protective equipment they must wear to keep them safe when fighting fires. This gear which includes a bunker coat, bunker pants, a nomex hood, firefighting gloves, helmet, firefighting boots, and breathing air pack also know as a scba. This gear adds well over 75 lbs. of extra weight to these men and women while they work. Unbelievable.

These firemen do some of the hardest and most dangerous work we have ever seen. Try and remember that alot of firemen are volunteer and dont do it for pay. Those that do get paid do not get paid nearly what they should. Next time you run into a firemen, whether you know them or not, ask them if they work a second job. You will be surprised by their response. These courageous men and women do not do what they do to get rich. We will not even get into how most fire departments also take care of all 911 ems calls, but ours does.

Next you see a fire station take a moment to stop in say hi and thank these men and women for what they do. They will be more then happy to pour you a cup of coffee and tell you everything you want to know.