As all of the world now knows, our family of firefighters suffered a tragic loss on the evening of Dec. 3, 1999. Six courageous, gallant men met their deaths doing what we all have chosen to do. We have followed our hearts and taken the path less traveled. It is the path of those of us who step to the front when duty calls and do so with a joyous and willing spirit. Although the loss is great and the sadness nearly overwhelming, there is a part of me that feels a boundless joy that there are such men and... View Article
After having received links to many of last year’s massive wild fire photos I ran into a quote by a motor mouth who had his back up about how great we all have it. In response, there were tons of irate comments from firefighters and from our friends and relatives. This is what the fury was about and I could damned well see why those feelings were being expressed: 259. FIRE FIGHTERS ARE WAY OVERRATED! I’m so sick of hearing them called “altruistic” and “angels.” It’s a JOB to them. They don’t wake up every day with big, benevolent smiles,... View Article
Faith, like so many other things in life, means different things to different people. It ultimately depends, I suppose, on our experiences and philosophies. So, I can only speak for myself about that often-elusive notion called faith. It seems that most of the time the word, “trust” can be used in its place and the meaning’s the same. I have faith in the abilities of my captain and crew. I trust them to be there when the goin’ gets tough. When I’m in a burning building wondering how much more the soles of my boots can take and I hear... View Article
Check out the personal gear, give the rig the once-over, pick up the need to know stuff from the off-going firefighter, vaguely discuss a few items at muster, drink a couple of cups of coffee and get ready for the shift. It was another day at Fire Station 6. I had been a firefighter on what was then called the Las Vegas Fire Department for fifteen years. I hadn’t a clue that this was going to be one of the most significant days of my career. At 7:37am, a few minutes into our shift the tones came in. “Fire in... View Article
The photo accompanying this story was taken as we were leaving the scene of what we thought was going to be a “routine” fire. I was looking at the house that had nearly cost two firefighters their lives. To be sure, it took years off of mine. I don’t think of myself as a superstitious person but as I was getting ready for work the morning of Friday, the 13th of July 2001 I had a moment of uneasiness. It passed in a flash but later in the day I recalled that I had actually “felt” that this wasn’t going... View Article