Editorial: In praise of our firefighters

An SUV collides with a moose on a highway outside Morinville. Within minutes they are there to get the collision victims out of the wrecked vehicles and en route to hospital. A condominium erupts in flames and shifts to a neighbouring garage. Within minutes they arrive to battle the blaze and to protect neighbouring homes from destruction. A meatloaf catches fire in the oven setting off the alarms. Within minutes they are there to douse the burned dinner and to reassure a shaken homeowner in the late afternoon.

They are the men and women of the Morinville Fire Department. They, together with their counterparts in Sturgeon County and Legal, give of their time and their compassion to, as has been said before, rush in as others are rushing out.

Local firefighters will spend time in schools and in the community this week offering their time during Fire Prevention Week, an annual awareness week that lets them remind us of what we need to do from prevent seeing them in full gear.

Fire Chief Brad Boddez tells us this year’s fire Prevention Week theme is Hear The Beep Where You Sleep. In short, he and his colleagues throughout the country are telling us that every bedroom needs a working smoke alarm.

Experts from Fire Prevention Canada tell us “there are now new types of smoke alarms that can be electronically interconnected wirelessly. For example, if smoke activates a smoke alarm in the basement of a house, all the home’s smoke alarms will sound simultaneously regardless of how far away they are from the smoke’s source.”

As such, they see the voluntary installation of smoke alarms in each bedroom as an additional measure to save lives.
Fire Prevention Week is also that time of year when we are encouraged to check the batteries in our smoke detectors and alarms.

It is also an opportunity for all of us to thank our firefighters for their commitment and volunteerism to saving lives and property.

If there are but two words they can take away from this brief editorial, they are thank you.

-SD

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1 Comment

  1. I have a saying. It takes a big man to hold back his tears/emotions, but it takes a bigger man to let them flow. So, too, do I believe that it takes a big man or woman to deal with the trauma of the things you all see on calls by yourself, but, it takes far more courage to get help for them and perhaps be seen as weak. Clearly you would not be weak for seeking help. You would be wise and brave.
    Thanks for all you do to keep us safe.

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