Firefighters – Noble Dedication of Lives

For many years, fire is considered an ally and a foe, depending on its contribution to daily life. It is an ally because it serves many purposes such as cooking, heating, and lighting. These purposes make life easier and healthier. On the other hand, it becomes a foe when its purposes get out of hand. Fire can burn and destroy properties in an instant, or worse, it can take lives. Every year, more and more incidence of fire is being reported due to climate change.

Every county, state, or city has its own firefighting teams that are responsible for dealing with fire incidence. Firefighting teams usually consist of six members each.

Firefighting is considered a profession of helping because every single day firefighters look forward to being of service to others by:
- Putting out fires in a home or in large buildings;
- Saving people who are trapped in burning buildings;
- Saving trapped animals;
- Treating people who are hurt or ill; and
- Responding to medical emergencies during fires; road accidents; floods; bomb incidents; spillages of dangerous substance; and rail and air crashes.

Firefighters work in:
- Airports;
- Factories;
- Forests; and
-Rural areas

Special firefighters:
- Smoke jumpers
These firefighters parachute from airplanes to remote areas to fight forest fires.

- Fire marshals and fire inspectors
These firefighters work to prevent fires by conducting building inspections and implementing standard building codes. To further inform the community, they visit schools to teach fire safety.

- Fire investigators
These firefighters investigates what is the cause of the fire and where it started by collecting evidence from the scene and talking to witnesses.

Firefighting is a demanding profession due to its urgency whenever duty calls. In effect, these firefighters live at the fire station, so that they can quickly respond to any call of assistance. Aside from being demanding, it is also a dangerous job because they risk their lives every time they respond to an emergency call. Firefighters constantly undergo trainings, lectures, exercises, and practice drills as a part of the job to keep them active, effective, and efficient professional firefighters.

Any existing group or organization often needs assistance in keeping their operation stable and effective. Even a fire department can ask financial assistance in the form of grants from the federal government to aid them with their financial needs. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, grants are awarded to fire departments to enhance their ability to protect the public and fire service personnel from fire and related hazards.

There are three types of grant available for fire departments:

Assistance for Firefighters Grants (AFG)
The primary goal of this grant is to meet the firefighting and emergency response needs of fire departments and non-affiliated emergency medical service organization. The grant program has helped firefighters and other first responders to obtain critically needed equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training, and other resources needed to protect the public and emergency personnel from fire and related hazards.

Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants (SAFER)
This grant program is created to provide funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations in order to help them increase the number of trained, “front line” firefighters available in their communities.

Fire Prevention and Safety Grants (FP&S)
This program support projects that enhance the safety of the public and firefighters from fire and related hazards. The primary goal of this program is to target high-risk populations and reduce injury and prevent death.

Assistance to Firefights Fire Station Construction Grants (SCG)
The program provides financial assistance directly to fire departments on a competitive basis. Its goal is to build new or modify existing fire stations in order that departments can enhance response capabilities and protect the community from fire and fire-related hazards.

These programs are dedicated to the true heroes of America, the firefighters.