Where There’s Smoke...
A Happy 250th birthday to our great nation! Firefighter history has so much in common with the founding of our nation. George Washington was a volunteer in Alexandria, Virginia, Ben Franklin was one of the founders of Union Fire Company in Philadelphia in 1736, and Thomas Jefferson started a volunteer fire department inRichmond, Virginia in 1779. President Franklin Pierce was a volunteer in Concord, New Hampshire, President Calvin Coolidge in Northampton, Massachusetts and President Herbert Hoover in West Branch, Iowa. Of all of these I believe that West Branch is still a volunteer department.
Our countries founders believed in individual liberties - the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - but they also knew that protection of the citizens and their property from the ravages of fire was not something that could be done alone which is why they organized fire companies. They knew that one wooden house built close to one another in our cities was a recipe for disaster. They knew that a wildfire in grasslands would ultimately find a house or a barn unless checked by the townspeople. That’s why my dad got involved in the fire service - and I suspect why many of you got involved - to serve our communities - to help out our neighbors when they need our help the most. We know that if we don’t volunteer, there isn’t anyone to handle those calls in our smaller communities. Over the years we evolved into a service that doesn’t just handle fire, but rather are an all hazards agency. The countrystarted that way too. A nation founded over the love of liberty that found that when it stood for what was right, itwould grow and prosper. There is no country on this earth - none was ever founded - that can match our nation’s strength, its generosity, and its kindness. The same can be said for the nation’s fire service with volunteer firefighters making up the overwhelming majority of firefighters in our nation and, in fact, volunteer firefighters cover the largest land mass in the nation. Firefighters, career and volunteer, are professional, they are strong, they are generous and theyare kind. Have we made mistakes as a nation and as a fire service - sure. We didn’t give women the right to vote for many years - and we couldn’t quite see the need to have female firefighters. We were okay that a huge section of our population was enslaved - and we couldn’t bring ourselves to have anything other than caucasian firefighters. Just as the nation grew in might, it changed its attitudes and as the fire service grew we understood that we couldn’t exclude segments of our population from among our ranks.
I am a proud American. I am very proud to serve this nation as a volunteer firefighter.
Every day our brothers and sisters are fighting fires, extricating people in rescue situations, caring for our citizens when their health demands it, responding to gas meters that are broke off, responding to wildland fires, watching the clouds for the next weather event, and so much more. If you are reading this and are a volunteer firefighter, thank you! If you are reading this and aren’t, then now is the time. Your community - yes even your nation - needs you. God Bless our nation’s fire service and may God continue to bless the United States of America.