Doug is a great friend of mind and he wrote this in 1988
Firemen heroes who serve public
There is a sinking felling inside of me today . A person I did not know died in a tragic accident last night, yet the grief I feel is like I've lost someone very close.
There's a certain link a journalist develops with the people he meets on the beat. They laugh together , sometimes they argue with each other, but mostly they respect each other.
When a fireman joins the department he realizes when the fire horn blares he responds. Often the fireman doesn't even know the full nature of the alarm he speeds to until he gets there. Whenever he responds, it a game of poker, except the stake he antes is his life .
The firefighter doesn't know when the beam from the burning house or the wall from the collapsed building is ging to fall on him, making him a victim along with the one he's trying to save.
He often doesn't know when the chemical spill he's responding to is going to penetrate his protective suit which was geared to protect him from something other than he actually encounters.
And, he doesn't know when he's going to happen on a driver in front of him which will force him to take evasive action. It could happen anytime. Last night, Greensburg firman Norman Stuart ran out of aces.
In a moment's notice, Stuart's life folded at the bottom of a deep ravine.
Firefighters are worth their weight in gold . No doubt they are , along with all other public servants in a local community, the most underpaid and least appreciated member of society. Largely, they are taken for granted.
Generally, in many cities, when they
ask for salary increases they're told there isn't enough money in the budget. Yet, they make less money in most instances than a production worker on a union assembly line. This is some set of priopities we have in our country. The people we need most, and who risk the most, are th least rewarded.
A million dollars a year would still leave the firefighter underpaid. For there is no pot large enough to buy back their chips when they are cashed in before their time=in the prime of their lives.
How many times have we all seen the flashing lights or heard the sirens sounding only to think of the primary victim- the person whose property is being threatened. They, in most instances haye the time it takes to flee danger.
Oh, when there's a major disaster and the firefighter is in he forefront people think of them and the danger they're in. But, what about the fire at the neighbor's house, garage or barn in sub-zero temperatures when the fire hoses and waterturn nearly to ice.Or , the pet or priceless photographsof long past family or ancestral memories they save when the heat and smoke threaten to choke the life out of them.
The fireman has only the time it takes to hear the crack of a beam crumbling over his head or feel the effects of odorless and silent deadly vapor creep into their system to take action. Most times, it is enough for the highlytrained firefighter to seek safety. Too often, however, it is strictly a bet with fate that offers no second draw from the top of the pile.
Fate can never be bluffed, it will call the fireman everytime. I will remember Stuart and Clark for a long time to come. The next fire or the next chemical spill I go to they will be there in my thoughts.
Stuart and Clark are heroes in the true sense of the word-not because they died or were injured in the line of duty. They're heroes because they took the gamble to serve the public and make the world, albelt a small part of it , a better place to live .
DONE BY DOUG MANAHAN STAFF WRITER
1-19-88
