A Look Into The Day of A Firefighter

Its 6 a.m. John wakes up and starts to get his cloths together so he can put them on as soon as he gets ready. Then he steps into the shower, after his shower he shaves and brushes his teeth. When he finally gets ready he walks through the house to say bye to his family. He leaves the house and then drives to the station and relieves the guys that are on from the night before. Its 8 o’ clock…his shift just started, his shift is eating breakfast and talking about what they did while they were off. He’s right in the middle of telling them what his son did the day before when while in midsentence he is interrupted by the gong. As soon as they hear their trucks name said over the radio, no matter what they were saying they are done with the conversation. They get serious and focused on the Job at hand.

They pull up to a 2 story house that has flames coming out of a 2nd story window. They ask the owners of the house if anyone is still in the house anywhere. The father of 3 says my son is in his room on the 2nd floor. As the firefighter starts his assent up the stairs to find the little boy he thinks of his own son. How it would feel to him if he had lost or left his son in a house that was on fire. When he finally found his way to the little boy’s room he opened the door and looked in. There were flames all around the little boy as he lay still on his bed. The Firefighter makes his way to the boy also making sure there are no weak spots where he is going to step. He gets the boy and runs him out of the house. On his way back down the stairs he looks at the boy and sees his son through him As the Paramedics looked at the boy to make sure he was ok the family runs up to the firefighter to thank him for a job well done. However, the firefighter knows that his job is not done...not yet.

His Brothers had the fire taken care of so he had one thing to do…Wait. Wait until the boy starts breathing again. As they look on the family starts to get anxious and upset. As the Family showed their sorrow for the boy, the firefighter stands there and prays that the kid will start breathing again. Neither Johns face, nor his body jesters show the emotions feel deep inside. He knows he has to stay strong for the family so they will at keep at least a little strength for their son and brother. He starts to loose hope slowly he knows the time is slipping away. Time starts slipping away the child starts to breathe slowly and deeply. Finally Johns job is done they can return to he Fire Station. When the group gets back and cleans everything it was about 3:00p.m. John gets to call his wife almost an hour later to tell her that he has made it back safe.

Ten minutes into his conversation with his wife the gong goes off and he has to go because he has another fire to go to. He tells her that he loves her but will call her when he gets back, then he hangs up and runs. When he gets to the Truck he slips into his gear and climbs in and settles in while the get the address of the building. While at this fire he feels something that isn’t right, something tells him that things are going to be different about this fire…different from any other fire. When they pull up to the address he finds out that what he was feeling suddenly turned into a reality. This was a 4 story building with flames coming from each floor. John when to find out if everyone made it out ok, what he found out changed his attitude towards the situation. A person who lived in the apartment complex told him there were two people still in the building somewhere on the third floor. As he runs up the stairs with the guys he picked for his team to get the two people out he notices that the heat is getting worse. They get to the third floor and start searching to see where they are.

When they found them, the sight was almost unbearable. When they found the room that the witnesses told John the couple was in he found them in bed lying with their 2 year old daughter. The parents were lying over the girl as if to protect her from the fire. The parents where gone…they couldn’t have made it if they tried. The baby however, they did manage to save…for now. When the team found out that there was a child between the parents still alive they shuffled to get to her and get her out of the building. As soon as they got to the child they got her out of the building as quick as they could. The EMS personnel told them that she was going to be fine, but still John was worried. He couldn’t get the thought of the child out of his mind…and again he couldn’t help but to think of his wife and children, and what they are doing now. He wonders if his wife knows that he’s ok and how much he loves her. As he remembers their conversation he can’t help but to think that it was a little short and that he had to go way too soon. When they get back to the Fire Station for the second time he calls his wife and talks to her for a while.

After he and his wife hang up from their long conversation he tells one of his buddies that he is going to lie down for a while because he isn’t feeling so good. His buddy says “ok if something happens I will wake you up and let you know.” John goes and lies in his bunk. He lays there until he falls asleep, John starts to dream about him lying down and as soon as he doses off the gong goes off. He gets up and puts his boots back on so that he can run to the truck. On his way to the truck he looks at the clock, 4 a.m. almost over. When they get to this call they figure out that its just like any other call they usually have. Just another abandon work building, at least it was at the time. John runs to the hose and starts to run towards the building looking for the right place to get so that he can put the fire out. He finds his spot gets ready and yells “Charge the line.” The hose fills up with water and he releases the nozzle the water flows towards the fire and starts slowly putting it out. After about 30 minutes the fire is completely out. They pack up and go back to the Station for the last time tonight. When he gets all his gear in his locker he goes and lies back down.

When he wakes up again its 8 a.m…time for him to go home, the next shift is there to relieve him. Another night of a job well done, he sighs as he drives home. When he gets home his wife is up in the kitchen waiting for him to come in and see her. She asks him how his day at work was... he remains silent and goes to their room to lie down. She follows and lies next to him, “that bad huh” she asks. “That bad” he repeats to her with another sigh. He then kisses her and falls asleep.

A Firefighters Life

You stay up for 16 hours

He's been for 48 straight
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You take a warm shower to help you wake up.

The rain in the middle of the interstate keeps him awake.
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You complain of a "headache", and call in sick.

He's chilled to the bone, hasn’t eaten all day, has the flu, and then runs into a burning building
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You drink your coffee on your way to the mall.

He pumps on a five years olds chest on the way to the hospital.
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You make sure you're cell phone is in your pocket.

He makes sure the pass device on his pack is working.
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You talk trash about your "buddies" that aren't with you.

He watches his buddy fall through four floors.
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You walk down the beach, staring at all the pretty girls.

He walks down the highway looking for the motorcyclists missing limb.
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You complain about how hot it is.

He wears fifty pounds of gear in the middle of July and drags a body out of 1600 degree flames.
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You go out to lunch, and complain because the restaurant got your order wrong.

He hasn’t seen a meal since last shift ate breakfast.
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Your maid makes your bed and washes your clothes.

He’s worn the same stinking, wet, grungy clothes for the past 24 hours....no time for a shower.
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You go to the mall and get your hair redone.

He holds the hair of some college girl while she’s puking in the back of the ambo.
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You're angry because your class ran 5 minutes over.

His shift ended 2 hours ago and he on for another 24 hours at a station thirty miles away.
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You call your girlfriend and set a date for tonight.

He calls his girlfriend to tell her he made it back alive....then leaves abruptly for another fire
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You yell and scream at the engine that just past you because they slowed you down.

He’s in the back of the engine, going to cut somebody out of their car only to find out that they're dead and their daughter is barely alive.
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You roll your eyes as a baby cries.

He cries as he hears his new born cry in the hospital....but he was taking a drunk teenager in when his boy was born.
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You criticize your fire dept and say they're never there quick enough anyways.

He blows the air horn while the person in front of them refuses to move while talking on their cell phone and doing their makeup.
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You hear the jokes about fallen firefighters and say they should have known better.

He feels the floor give way while he’s carrying an old lady from her bedroom and tosses on to the hard floor and falls into the unknown.
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You see the bright lights when you go by.

He sees the broken bodies lying around the car.
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You are asked to go to the store by your parents. You don't.

He looks into buying a bullet proof vest because he’s been shot at trying to save the shooting victims life.
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You stay at home and watch TV.

He takes his spare time to wash the wagon, restock the ambo and maybe call his mother to tell her not to worry, he'll be home the next night.
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You crawl into your soft bed, with down pillows, and get comfortable.

He tries to sleep on his spring board bed but keeps getting woken up by the gong and bell, ahh, one hour of sleep, it should due till tomorrow night.
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You sit there and judge him, saying the that its a waste of money to have them around.

Garbage truck workers make more than he does, but it’s not for the money, it’s for the people who don’t appreciate what he does.