"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends  You are my friends if you do what I command.  I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not kow his master's business.  Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit -- fruit that will last.  Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.  This is my command:  Love each other."   (Jesus speaking in the gospel of John 15:13-17).

http://www.firefightersforchrist.org/ FEDERATION OF FIRE CHAPLAINS  http://firechaplains.org/index.html U.S. FIRE ADMINISTRATION WEBSTIE http://www.usfa.fema.gov/index.shtm THE PHEONIX SITE FOR INJURED FIREFIGHTERS http://members.aol.com/NitSkyFire/ThePhoenix.html

FIREHOUSE.COM  http://www.firehouse.com/

FIREFIGHTING.COM   http://www.firefighting.com/

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIREFIGHTERS http://www.iaff.org/

NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION http://www.nfpa.org/

FIREWISE  http://www.firewise.org/www/active_win.htm

Firefighters Creed

When I'm called to duty God, Wherever flames may rage

Give me strength to save a life Whatever be it's age

Help me to embrace a little child Before it is to late

Or save an older person from The horror of that fate

Enable me to be alert To hear the weakest shout

And quickly and efficiently To put the fire out

I want to fill my calling and To give the best in me

To guard my neighbor and Protect his property

And if according to your will I have to lose my life

Bless with your protecting hand My children and my wife

NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS FOUNDATION http://www.firehero.org/

NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS CHAPEL http://www.firehero.org/index1.aspx?BD=7702

NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS MONUMENT http://www.firehero.org/index1.aspx?BD=7703 

Women in the Fire Service, Inc.

http://www.wfsi.org/index.php


Women FIrefighters

http://www.geocities.com/fire8133/

Women at Ground Zero

http://www.womenatgroundzero.com/index.html

A Firefighters Pledge

I promise concern for others.
A willingness to help all those in need.
I promise courage - courage to face an conquer my fears.
Courage to share and endure the ordeal of those who need me.
I promise strength - strength of heart to bear whatever burdens
might be placed upon me.
Strength of body to deliver to safety all those placed within my care.
I promise the wisdom to lead, the compassion to comfort,
and the love to serve unselfishly whenever I am called

FIREFIGHTERS WIFES HOME PAGE

http://members.tripod.com/cl-tina.startingagain-ivil/

Fireman's Wife

The table's set, The meal's prepared, Our guests will soon arrive.

My husband once more disappears with a hope of keeping a child alive

While waiting at home again alone, Our plans having gone awry

My first impulse is merely to sit down and cry.

But soon again I realize the importance of my life

When I agreed to take on the duties of being a fireman's wife

While there are many drawbacks, I'll take them in my stride

The gusting winds and raging flames may be his final fate,

But with God's help I can remain my fireman's faithful mate.

~~ SPARKY THE FIRE DOG ~~

http://www.sparky.org/

~~ SMOKEY THE BEAR ~~

http://www.smokeybear.com/kids/default.asp

FIRE SERVICE POEMS   http://poems.avfd.com/

National Fallen Firefighters Chapel

National Fallen Firefighters Monument

I Wish You Could
I wish you could see the sadness of a business man as his livelihood goes up in flames or that family returning home, only to find their house and belongings damaged or destroyed.

I wish you could know what it is to search a burning bedroom for trapped children, flames rolling above your head, your palms and knees burning as you crawl, the floor sagging under your weight as the kitchen beneath you burns.

I wish you could comprehend a wife's horror at 3 A.M. as I check her husband of forty years for a pulse and find none. I start CPR anyway, hoping against hope to bring him back, knowing intuitively it is too late. But wanting his wife and family to know everything possible was done.

I wish you could know the unique smell of burning insulation, the taste of soot-filled mucus, the feeling of intense heat through your turnout gear, the sound of flames crackling, and the eeriness of being able to see absolutely nothing in dense smoke--"sensations that I have becomed too familiar with."

I wish you could understand how it feels to go to school in the morning after having spent most of the night, hot and soaking wet at a multiple alarm fire.

I wish you could read my mind as I respond to a building fire, `Is this a false alarm or a working, breathing fire? How is the building constructed?  What hazards await me? Is anyone trapped?' or to an EMS call, `What is wrong with the patient? Is it minor or life-threatening? Is the caller really in distress or is he waiting for us with a 2x4 or a gun?'

I wish you could be in the emergency room as the doctor pronounces dead the beautiful little five-year old girl that I have been trying to save during the past twenty-five minutes, who will never go on her first date or say the words, "I love you Mommy!", again.

I wish you could know the frustration I feel in the cab of the engine, the driver with his foot pressing down hard on the pedal, my arm tugging again and again at the air horn chain, as you fail to yield right-of-way at an intersection or in traffic. When you need us, however, your first comment upon our arrival will be, "It took you forever to get here!"

I wish you could read my thoughts as I help extricate a girl of teenage years from the mangled remains of her automobile, `What if this were my sister, my girlfriend, or a friend? What were her parents' reactions going to be as they open the door to find a police officer, HAT IN HAND?'

I wish you could know how it feels to walk in the back door and greet my parents and family, not having the heart to tell them that you nearly did not come home from this last call.

I wish you could know how it feels dispatching officers, firefighters and EMT's out and when we call for them and our heart drops because no one answers back or to here a bone chilling 911 call of a child or wife needing assistance.

I wish you could feel my hurt as people verbally, and sometimes physically, abuse us or belittle what I do, or as they express their attitudes of, "It will never happen to me."

I wish you could realize the physical, emotional, and mental drain of missed meals, lost sleep and forgone social activities, in addition to all the tragedy my eyes have viewed.

I wish you could know the brotherhood and self-satisfaction of helping save a life or preserving someone's property, of being there in times of crisis, or creating order from total CHAOS.

I wish you could understand what it feels like to have a little boy tugging on your arm and asking, "Is my mommy o.k.?" Not even being able to look in his eyes without tears falling from your own and not knowing what to say. Or to have to hold back a long-time friend who watches his buddy having rescue breathing done on him as they take him away in the ambulance. You knowing all
along he did not have his seat belt on--sensations that I have become too familiar.

Unless you have lived this kind of life, you will never truly understand or appreciate who I am, what we are, or what our job really means to us.

I WISH YOU COULD!

-Randell Broadwater, Firefighter/EMT-A
Some lines written by
Jason Kopacko

The Brotherhood
The brotherhood of Firemen runs deep in all our veins.
We love this job with all our hearts and our brothers just the same.
Although we have our little fights and disagreements at the station house.
When one of us is in need our brothers are there to help.
The brotherhhod is strong and true and consumes our very soul.
We will be brothers till the end, this vowel I do bestow.

 THE CREATION OF THE FIREFIGHTER

When the Lord was creating Firefighters, he was into his sixth day of overtime when an angel appeared and said, "Your doing a lot of fiddling around on this one."

And the Lord said "Have you read the specification of this person? Firefighters have to be able to go for hours fighting fires or tending to a person that the usual every day person would never touch, while putting in the back of their mind the circumstances. They have to be able to move at a second's notice and not think twice of what they are about to do, no matter what danger. They have to be in top physical condition at all times, running on half-eaten meals, and they must have six pairs of hands." "It's not the hands that are causing me problems," said the Lord, "it's the three pairs of eyes a Firefighter has to have."

"That's on the standard model?" asked the angel.The Lord nodded. "One pair that sees through the fire and where they and their fellow Firefighters should fight the fire next. Another pair here in the side of the head to see their fellow Firefighters and keep them safe. And another pair of eyes in the front so that they can look for the victims caught in the fire that need their help."

"Lord" said the angel, touching his sleeve, "Rest and work on this tomorrow.""I can't, said the Lord, "I already have a model that can carry a 250 pound man down a flight of stairs and to safety from a burning building, and can feed a family of five on a civil service paycheck."

The angel circled the model of the Firefighter very slowly, "Can it think?"

"You bet," said the Lord. "It can tell you the elements of a hundred fires; and can recite procedures in their sleep that are needed to care for a person until they reach the hospital. And all the while they have to keep their wits about themselves. This Firefighter also has phenomenal personal control. They can deal with a scene full of pain and hurt, coaxing a child's mother into letting go of the child so that they can care for the child in need. And still they rarely get the recognition for a job well done from anybody, other than from fellow Firefighters."

Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek of the Firefighter. "There's a leak", she pronounced. "Lord, it's a tear. What's the tear for?" asked the angel.

"It's a tear from bottled-up emotions for fallen comrades. A tear for commitment to that funny piece of cloth called the American Flag. It's a tear for all the pain and suffering they have encountered. And it's a tear for their commitment to caring for and saving lives of their fellow man!"

"What a wonderful feature Lord, you're a genius" said the angel.

'No," said the Lord, "I didn't put it there!"

I Guess that's why we hear people say, after responding to a call

"Thank GOD for Firefighters"