A Call to Action

There was a fire last night behind the business where I work. It was started by a train passing through a dry field, and fanned by some 20 to 25 m.p.h. hot winds, created a wall of smoke fifty feet tall. The smoke blocked the sun from our building and inside, the light filtering through the smoke gave an eerie aspect to the equipment inside.

Just after the fire had begun I had called the gentleman who owns the heavy equipment sales company next door and he hurried down to his shop and rolled out a large bulldozer and put himself to work for the fire department, who had shown up with several pump trucks to attack the problem. I readied a water line and a pressure washer to keep ours and our neighbor's property watered down should the fire close in on them.

The fire pushed by the wind, traveled the 1/4 mile from where it was started toward our location pretty rapidly and could have easily overtaken our neighbor's location had the fire department not responded so speedily. Our neighbor's quick thinking and readiness to help made a huge difference between how things worked out and how they might have. He was able to make a fire break which really helped bring its progress to a fairly abrupt halt, which allowed the firemen to get it contained in about an hour and a half, and then go to work on the "hotspots." They stopped it fifty feet from the edge of our property.

I had said a prayer as the fire raged and asked for God's protection and a swift resolution of the situation and that is what happened and I thank Him for it. I wonder at how infrequently I fail to pray for those on the way to deal with emergency situations and for those in need of help when I hear sirens.

I have friends in law enforcement and as I watched the firefighters putting themselves in a situation that presented several risks to them I wonder also at the kind of person and mindset that allows one to steel up each day to put one's self in dangerous situations to protect the lives and property of the citizenry.

I tend to scoff when people say that emergency responders and law enforcement personnel get paid to do the work. I can tell you that's just because they have to make a living. They can't do it for free and believe me, they do not get paid enough. I have prayed sometimes in the past when I've heard sirens, but I'm going to make a concentrated effort in the future to support in prayer all those involved.