You just can't put a price on that!

The knowledge that if you find yourself in a building that is burning, a serious car accident or needing other rescue and assistance - you know you can call on your local firefighters, police force, and ambulance crew. You can't put a price on that. Sure if you live in a city, and your crew is paid, then you pay for it from your taxes. But what if you live in a small town.. a village? You rely on a group of dedicated and kind-hearted folk to do that job. For Free.

I'm talking about Volunteer Fire Fighters in particular. Because my father is one. He has been with the same force for well over 20 years. He keeps current with training, hours and hours and hours of it. He gave up many nights of Trick Or Treating with his kiddies to be at the fire hall just in case the local kids grew restless and started some fires. He wears a pager and he will drop everything that he is doing and rush to the scene. He fearlessly (although I suspect there must be some fear.. but he would never tell me that) dons his protective suit, helmet and breathing gear and walks into burning buildings on.purpose. He does it because he wants to help protect his community. Because he cares.

Recently in my small hometown (village) there was a series of unfortunate incidents. Some members of the group decided it would be a kick to purposely set fires. These were trained individuals that the whole community trusted with their lives. I cannot express my disappointment at that enough.. every fire that my father goes to fight is one more opportunity that he may not come home again. When I see that somebody purposely put him that position it outrages me. We're not talking about restless teenagers. We're talking about grown men - and one woman who was also involved.

I am not here to condemn them. I'm pretty sure they must already know it was wrong. And it's not my place to say whether or not justice will be served. Maybe it will. This post is not to judge, condemn or be angry.

This is about upholding those who do it for the right reasons, who continue to fight fires.. and that the community depends on. I recently watched an interview where members of the community stated that they had lost faith in the fire department. That makes me so sad... my father has worked for over 20 years to establish a sense of trust and community that for some has been wiped out with the foolishness of a few others. If you are in that small community and reading this - I hope that you will see that there are still many dedicated individuals who have been doing this for a very long time, not because they have to, but because they choose to. The countless nights I spent as a girl listening to the police scanner that we had - wondering if my Daddy was coming home... the accidents that he attended and could not speak of afterwards. I implore you to think about those things before painting the whole crew with the same wide brush stroke.

I hope that our little community will bounce back, better than ever.. and not let the polarizing effect that occurs so often come between them. May those who did it be held accountable, do their time, and move on - may those who, like my dad, continue to be there for the community be able to do so without the cloud of negativity following them around.