Misconceptions of Reality
Fiction gives our society the impression that a firefighter is always
able to swoop in and save housing and people in the blink of an eye. But on the
flip side, fiction also shows the destruction that a home can go through and
the lives that can be lost in the process of fire or a medical call.
“We don’t ever know what it is we’re going out to do,” Ben Dvorak said.
“There’s lots of anticipation of what’s to come.”
All the men I talked to agreed, that the news generally seems to focus
on the big stories where property was severely damaged or lives were lost.
“You never hear the stories where people come up to us and say, ‘You
just saved our wedding albums,’” Hoyt said.
People say that firefighters have the greatest work schedules in the
world because they only work every few days and they get to sleep at work.
People forget that in the middle of the night they could get called out
to an emergency scene.
Although these men and women are heroes who put their life on the line
every time they go into work, they aren’t always treated with the respect they
should.
The men and women a number of departments hear clichés and
misconceptions on almost a daily basis.
Vern Johnson is one of the Superior Fire Department’s Battalion Chiefs
and has been working in Superior for over 25 years.
“Our runs here have increased, we’re doing a lot more medical runs,” he
explained.
The crew does their best to not let the misconceptions get to them as
they know that the work that they do is important. They have learned with time
that it’s not worth getting upset over, but to just keep doing what they’re
doing.
A High Stress Job – I Think So
I asked the men I spoke with if this job was hard on their wives, if
their wives sat around listening to a police scanner and praying the rosary.
They said no. I told them that’s what I would do. They laughed.
Their wives are supportive and there for them, but they often try their
best to leave it all in the fire hall.
But it can hang in their minds for sure. They see death and destruction and
that can leave a toll on anyone, no matter how tough.
“I try to remember that I didn’t create the issues, that it’s not really
my problem, but it doesn’t always work,” Captain Bob Archambault said. “Maybe
that’s heartless, but it generally works.”
“We do things that aren’t natural,” Tribbey said. “Sure you remember the
ones that don’t go well. You’re given a job to do and you feel like you’ve
failed that job. You have to make peace with it. You have a lot more good days
than bad.”
“We’re trained to sit there and think about what we just did and
re-evaluate ourselves,” said Huber. “We put all the pieces together of what
went right and what went wrong.”
Like I said earlier, it’s not always glamorous. Sometimes it’s
down-right hard. There are good days and
bad days. But seeing a child you saved five years later, who is alive because
of you is part of what makes it worth it.
Running into burning buildings is crazy. Being the first one on the
scene of a horrific accident puts images in your mind that will never go away.
The life expectancy of a firefighter is shorter than those of people with desk
jobs, not only due to smoke and chemical inhalation, but due to the stress and
they’re finding now that the irregular sleep patterns also play a huge role in
earlier deaths.
Not to be morbid, but I asked them if they ever think, no way and want
to quit doing what they’re doing. They all answered with a resounding no. This
was their calling; this was what they were meant to do.
I asked those with kids if they would want their kids to do this job
too. They said, sure, they’d have no problem with it as long as it’s what they
want to do. No pressure to follow in dad’s footsteps.
In Conclusion
I am so thankful to the Superior Fire Department for taking the time to
chat with me and also allowing me to spend the day with them. It was an
experience I’ll never forget. I am especially thankful to Lane Halverson, Howie
Huber and Steve Miner for putting up with me and my pesky questions all day
long.
I’ve always respected the profession and will now always respect it more
knowing just how much they really do to keep my friends and loved ones
comfortable and safe.
The professionalism and the compassion of these men and women can not be
matched. No matter how hard anyone tries.
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