I burned slash (clear cut logging units) and fought forest fires in college and after for several years, with the U.S. Forest Service. The training from there has served me well on several occasions, but also given me a very cautious attitude when approaching situations where action is necessary. I also worked for several years as a volunteer with the Mountain Rescue team from my hometown. Since I was working up in the mountains in the summers and the rescues were often in the mountains near me, I was a very early responder because I lived 50 miles closer to the incidents than the rest of the team. There was one other USFS guy up there in the same group, so we often were the first to the scene. The fire fighting was something I did because (initially) it looked hard but exciting, but mostly it was how to pay for college. The overtime, hazardous duty pay, and per diem added up. It gets in your blood. I still feel my pulse race at the news of the fires every summer. The mountaineering was on my own time, and was what I considered my responsibility as a climber. If I had the skills that could help save someone's life, I would use them in this fashion.

I don't recall anyone ever calling any of us heroes in any formal sense, but that isn't why we did it, as has been remarked above. The times of acknowledgement that I remember best after all of these years are some of the very small things. Coming down off of the line next to the highway, and having someone in what looks like the classic snowbird motor home pull over, pull out a cooler, and hand everyone a cold Coke. It was more than a drink, we all knew that, and nothing ever tasted so good. Or the regular potluck dinner in town that the fire fighters were always invited to, and our payback to them (in addition to putting out fires, of course) was not in a covered hot dish, but to help out on some task around the church--painting, putting up playground equipment, etc.

Mostly I'm contributing this just so there is a distaff voice registered on this thread. (My most "heroic" act? That would be in my "mom" hat: pulling a little boy off of a littler girl he was drowning in the wading end of the city pool many years ago. When I saw them, I was on those kids so fast, plucking them both out of the water, and wondering at the same time if I was just overreacting. I knew this wasn't the case a moment later when the shaken lifeguard came over and thanked me).

BTW: Mr. Firefighter, I won't say your name, but why the anonymous posting? Coworkers read Mudcat?

SRS