Firefighters

This is a from the heart post. I happen to have a great respect for people that serve to protect our fellow man. Firefighters come close to my heart when they rush into the flames where others not so brave would not. In their individual hearts for why they do what they do I will never understand but I sure as hell appreciate them every single day of my life. I can’t put myself in their boots when they rush into an empty building that is rumored to have homeless people in it or for that matter a single home known to have a family in it. Flames and the heat is so intense and yet they rush in where no man should. Many loose their lives for it. That is courage that can never be explained. God bless them all for it.

Here in my hometown we lost six brave men back in 1999 in one fire and I will never forget them. And from the ruble and site where they passed away in, the city of Worcester has built a state of the art fire station on the same land that they lost their lives on. That is the ultimate tribute to six very brave men and humanitarians till their last breath. God bless them all. Over at the Telegram they have this video on it…

Video Link



Timmothy Jackson Sr., Jay Lyons, Thomas Spencer, Jeremiah Lucey, Joseph McGuirk, and Paul Brotherton all rushed in to save homeless people in a building fully engulfed in flames. They never made it out of the building alive. They did not rush into those flames because of a city paycheck, they did so for a higher calling. They did so to save lives and they lost their lives for it. I dare not try and think of their last thoughts before the fire took them. God bless them all.

Worcester will be dedicating this new fire station in their honor in the same place where these very brave men lost their lives. I have mixed feelings on this but I think it is a great tribute to the men that died. Personally, I would have preferred a statue over a fire station. Something that just said we were here, we fought here and we died here. Then again, to think about it, placing a fire station on that same spot is a compliment to their memory. They deserve this fire station and what it will stand for till the wrecking ball comes in a hundred or more years when these brave souls are long forgotten is a much better tribute to their lives.

You don’t know how this feels to your soul till it happens to you and in your community. The Worcester Cold Storage fire happened many years ago but to me it still feels like yesterday. Why is it that December 3rd, 1999 is burned into my soul? We brought food down to the firefighters that refused to leave this site, we brought food to the fire stations manned from towns all over the state. We bought flowers for the stations with black banners over their engine doors. I stayed home from work and kept my kids home from school as President Clinton and other notable dignataries and people from all over America came to my city and spoke at the service to our fallen six firefighters. My wife volunteered her time as a school bus driver to shuttle all the firefighters from all over the world for the memorial service. I still feel like I have not done enough for the brave men that lost thier lives. All I know now is that I now have an extreme respect for fireman and policeman all across America. They dare to do what others would never think possible and some make it out and some do not. Say a prayer for those that act when we can not. God bless them all!

Thank you Worcester Fire Department and the Worcester Police Department for doing what you do. I don’t think people really know how much you should be really appreciated. God bless you all!

Papamoka

Broken Hearts of Nine Firefighter Families

My heart felt prayers are with the nine families of the Firefighters lost in the fire in South Carolina. Out across the land many of American families will sit down to dinner tonight and Dad will be there. That will not be the case for nine families in South Carolina. When you sit down to your dinner table, say a prayer for those families. Pray for them to get through this difficult time as best they can, pray that they look to one another and embrace one another in grief and mourning knowing that the fallen firefighter in their family was a true hero. Not just any hero but an American hero.

Someone once said that God has no greater love than that of one that looses his own life to save another. I’ll be praying for the families of the lost firefighters. They need all of us now and it is up to all of us to remember the deeds of nine very brave men.

Over at the Washington Post they have this coverage on this tragedy in South Carolina…

S.C. Warehouse Fire Kills 9 Firefighters

By BRUCE SMITH
The Associated PressTuesday, June 19, 2007; 4:19 PM

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Fire swept through a furniture warehouse, collapsing its roof and killing nine firefighters inside _ the nation's deadliest single disaster for firefighters since the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

"Nine brave, heroic, courageous firefighters of the city of Charleston have perished fighting fire in a most courageous and fearless manner, carrying out their duties," Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley said at a morning news conference. "To all of their loved ones, our heart goes out to them." - Washington Post

Just as the nation grieved for the fallen six Firefighters in Worcester, MA we should come together as one people to think and pray for the nine lost in Charleston, South Carolina.

Call your local church and ask that the next service be in their honor. Above all remember to thank your local Firefighters for what they do every single day. When the alarm rings and they go out the door there is always the chance that some of them might never see the fire station or their families again. In Charleston they know that pain all to well today.

From the people of Worcester, MA we send our thoughts and prayers. May God bless them all.

Papamoka

Other folks talking about this tragedy...

The Rev. Chuck Currie