Why Are We Here?

While cruising a few fire service websites last evening, I found a video with ensuing commentary that absolutely infuriated me.  The commentary was indicative of a widespread problem throughout the fire service.  We seem to have lost our way at the core of our very existence.  The fire service is here to serve the public! Plain and simple.  If you feel otherwise, you’re wrong.  Sorry if that offends any of you, but it needs to be said.

The fire service is fun and exciting.  Rather, I should say the fire service can be fun and exciting.  It’s not always fun and exciting, and there will be times we have to do things we don’t like.  Too bad! That’s what you signed up for.  For those of you fortunate enough to get a pay check to ride fire trucks, it’s how you earn your money.  I’d be lying if I told you I enjoy every single thing we have to do.  With that said, it doesn’t matter whether you enjoy it or not.  What matters is that you do the job and do it right.

People call the fire department because they’re having a bad day.  For some of these folks, it’s the worst day of their lives.  It’s our job to respond in a timely fashion and provide service in a professional manner.  What may seem minor to us, may be a life-changing experience to a citizen.  It’s not our job to judge folks but rather provide them with assistance.  At the same time, there are people who abuse the system and, at times, this does become frustrating.  Nonetheless, we should always show up and be ready to help.

When I joined the fire service, a catch phrase thrown around the firehouse was: “it’s not my emergency”.  I cannot stand the phrase and it’s usually thrown around by folks who need some motivation when it comes to the job.  The moment the alarm is transmitted for you to respond, it becomes your emergency to mitigate.  You chose to join the fire service, therefore you chose to become involved with, and to fix, other people’s emergencies.  With that said, I’m not being an advocate for operating recklessly or without regard.  Instead I am advocating showing up in a timely manner and operating to mitigate the emergency as efficiently and effectively as possible.

As I’ve said above, it’s not always going to be fun and exciting.  That’s a fact.  However, as firefighters, we took an oath to serve the public and to faithfully carry out our duties.  It’s about having character and doing the right thing.  Doing the right thing for the citizen’s and your fellow firefighters.  It absolutely disgusts me to get on the internet, which is a public forum (in case anybody forgot), to read firefighters complaining about having to do their jobs.  Firefighters are the “good guys”(has nothing to do with being male or female), or we’re supposed to be anyways.  Though we have many other things we can argue about internally, this should be one thing we are all on the same page about.  We are here to serve the public!