Linda Goodnight here with an important message. Sounds like a commercial for life insurance, doesn’t it? Well, in a way it is. One of my favorite heroes, both in books and in real life, is the firefighter, probably because I happen to personally know some very handsome, hunky, young men who work in this noble profession. Godly men who really care about the people they serve, which brings me to my message. Smoke detectors.
For obvious reasons, fall and winter bring more house fires. Yesterday my FF son and his crew responded to an early morning fire. Because there were no smoke alarms in the house, the family slept on until the fire was out of control. Two little ones died.
Firefighters don’t just walk away from a scene and forget about it. Those deaths haunt them. FF hurt. They question. They pray that it will never happen again. Most fire departments will provide smoke alarms free of charge and even install them for you. Be sure yours are good to go. Check them now. We love our firefighter heroes, and they love you too much to lose you.
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Linda, so heartbreaking. Saying a prayer right now for your son and his colleagues.
ReplyDeleteThere have been many fire sirens going on in the past week as the weather has cooled. So I am going to add, "if you haven't vacuumed out the lint connector (not just the filter) for your dryer or had your chimney inspected or your gas fireplace tuned up" be sure to do so. AND GET A CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTOR TO GO WITH YOUR SMOKE ALARM.
Peace and thanks, Julie
Linda,I know what you mean. I am a volunteer firefighter (lady). I dread this time of year when heaters start coming on and people use more candles. We also have been to fires where there were no smoke alarms. Most of them were rental property where the owner just didn't want to supply one. That's sad.
ReplyDeleteplhouston(at)bellsouth(dot)net
Julie, thank you for the prayers. My son is really angry and frustrated, and one of his buddies, a youth pastor, is struggling with his faith because of these deaths. They could sure use prayer.
ReplyDeleteI second the 'check your lint filter' message! Cody says they are the number one reason for house fires. Lint. Who knew!
Patsy, you are one of our unsung, unpaid heroines! I guess your crew is already seeing an upswing in fires???
ReplyDeleteTwo little ones. Oh, the heartbreak the mother must be going through. I agree with Julie. Heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteYes, Pamela, that mother must be devastated. She is in critical condition, too, as is the dad. One of the FF risked his own life to go into the flaming house and carry them out or they would not still be alive.
ReplyDeleteThis is the fourth child fatality in a month for this department. All because of smoke detectors. My son has been a FF for 5 years and never lost a person in a fire. Now, four kids in one month. You can understand why they are reeling. So tragic. I can hardly imagine the heartache of losing a child....
How heartbreaking, Linda!
ReplyDeleteJulie, I didn't even know to vacuum out the the lint connector! Will a skinny attachment work?
Now I won't sleep well until I do that!
Also! We always change our smoke detector batteries with the time changes--coming up soon!
Linda,
ReplyDeleteWe have had an increase in brush fires in our county for the past couple of months. It has been so dry here that we were under a burn ban. Although, some people burn anyway. (You get a ticket if you burn durning a burn ban). However it rained enough yesterday that the burn ban was cancelled. Thank goodness!
Good point, Missy. It's time to change the batteries. I need to add new batteries to my shopping list.
ReplyDeletePatsy, where do you live that's so dry? Glad to hear it rained!
ReplyDeleteBTW Patsy, you've inspired me. Now I want to write lady FF book!
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