Bob,

I have to agree with the assessment of your buddy regarding the loss of so many guys and gals in the collapse of the Twin Towers. The command decisions were stupid, IMO.

I have been fighting fires for ten years. During that time I have entered about 20 burning structures doing searches for people, fire attack, rapid intervention, protection or fire suppression. I have never felt like a hero. Firefighting is team work, and firefighters work as teams. Dispatchers get the info, drivers get us there, hydrant guys/gals supply water, BA people do entry, pump operators make sure the guys/gals on the nozzle ends have water, teams provide cover and protection, others track our movement via radio, others make sure we are suited up properly, and we go do the job. It's about doing the job, not about heroism. Heroes don't last long in the fire service, because nobady wants to do entry with a hero. It's too dangerous.

Recently, some of our guys were awarded stuff for bravery on a rescue a few years back. They were embarrassed to go because they wanted the certificates and medals to be awarded to the department, not themselves. Getting killed at a fire scene can happen. It has dangers. But as your friend said, we have bunker gear that can withstand high temps and breathing apparatus that will allow us air that isn't heated. It also keeps the toxins out of our lungs. Cost? As he said, about a thousand dollars. (I had some burning stuff from a road flare blow onto my gear and burn three small holes in my jacket. Had to get it repaired at a cost of close to $150) because the pinprick holes destroyed the integrity of the jacket. Our training, which is ongoing, is very costly. Having the entire 10-01 in Canada can run as much as five thousand dollars just for the courses and materials. Our aerial ladder truck was cheap at $375,000. We recently purchased a new pumper, and it was a bare-bones $85,000--no hose, nozzles, tools included. Our rescue truck carries upwards of $150,000 of fancy tools--what people call the Jaws (and we call cutters, spreaders) and other entry tools, rescue ropes and pulleys, stretchers, air tanks, first aid stuff, radios and batteries, etc. The truck was about $165,000.

New building construction--cheap and fast stuff wherein one burned-through support on a floor can make the whole floor unsafe (and someone's floor is someone else's ceiling) has made it mandatory for firefighters to study building construction--theory and practical. As your friend said, we have the training, and we do everything possible to anticipate and eliminate the dangers at every scene to which we respond. The results may seem heroic, but the results come from training, communication and knowledge. We work hard before we ever get near a working fire, and the stuff we do is what we practise doing as often as we can. Really, it's no big deal. Too many folks saw "Backdraft" and it's a hard movie to deal with. Great music, kinda good story, and lotsa really stupid firefighting. If anyone on the department to which I belong saw me even thinking about entering an engulfed structure 1) with an open jacket, 2) with the strap of my lid hanging loose, 3) without gloves, 4) without BA, I would be immediately relieved of my duties, and my pager would be requested within 24 hours. The stuff that happened at the Towers was tragic, and I mean tragic because it was not necessary for that many lives of emergency workers to be lost. Most of those deaths did not have to happen; indeed, most should not have happened, IMO.

In short, emergency work is not about heroism. It is about doing the job and helping people at the same time. It's work we're proud to do, but you won't get too many of us wanting to be called heroes, or brave, or stuff like that. It's not what the job's about.