A Window, Heroism, and A Helicopter Pilot

Common Sense vs. A Window

So here’s what I’m up against. A couple of weeks ago we had a little house fire at four o’clock in the morning. It was pretty far from our station and by the time we got there most of the fire was put out. I and the firefighter with me were assigned to do a primary search of the house looking for victims.

After completing the search and reporting our findings back to command we started to help overhaul the inside of the house. This is the point where we start removing sheetrock around the fire area looking for the places that fire likes to hide.

So my rookie and I (he’s been with the department for about two years but I think you still qualify as a rookie with so little time) are in a little bathroom down the hall from where the fire was. It’s not very likely that there is any fire spread to this area but we have to check anyway. The technique is quite simple; you remove sheetrock and examine the wood behind it. Any sign of smoke or charring and you pull more. You pull sheetrock off of the walls and ceiling until you get to “clean” wood. It’s completely destructive and we often end up doing more damage than the fire while making sure that it’s out. After all, you don’t want to have to come back a second time. That’s a bad feeling, trust me.

So like I said, the fire was out before we got there. We’re pulling ceiling in this bathroom and there is still a lot of smoke in the air. I tell my rookie, “how about opening that window and getting some of this smoke out of here.”

At this point I turn and go back to pulling sheetrock, when CRASH! There goes the window. I turn quickly and see my rook putting his puller through the glass. Once he has broken most of the glass he takes the tool and rakes it around the sides cleaning out all of the glass. Then, as if that wasn’t enough damage, he takes the tool and knocks the entire window out of the wall into the back yard.

I would remind you, THE FIRE IS OUT! There are no exigent circumstances that demand quick and decisive action. I assumed (and we all know what that makes me yet again) that he would simply open the window.

It’s common sense, right? But that’s what I’m up against. For all too many of the younger guys, the mere idea that fire is somewhere in their vicinity is like waving a red flag in front of a bull. A crazy bull that’s got something to prove.

Intentions vs. Results

Perhaps you’re thinking that, like my previous post, I should consider rewarding intentions. And they do have good intentions. They sincerely want to help, but intentions aren’t going to save anyone.

Yes there is something admirable about the intention. But good intentions don’t get the job done. There are a few calls that I will always remember; that I play over and over in my head thinking about what I would have done differently. Calls where intentions fell horribly short.

I hear people labeling firefighters “heroes” all of the time, and my reflex is to cringe somewhere in my head, out of sight. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the sentiment or understand how they feel. After all, firefighters have heroes, too. It's just that I don't necessarily agree. But it has caused me to examine what, in my opinion, a hero is.

I recently read John McCain’s book Why Courage Matters where he discusses people who have displayed unbelievable courage, many in the face of death. He argues that our society today carelessly applies the word lessening its impact. The labeling of someone as courageous, because they lost a lot of weight, cheapens the word where it applies to what he considers real courage.

At first I wholly agreed with him. He definitely presented examples of people who have shown immeasurable courage; people who have done things I can’t imagine myself doing. And that’s when I realized what I define as courageous; what I think makes a hero.

Your Hero vs. My Hero

For me, a hero is simply someone who’s willing to do something I am not.

That’s it plain and simple. It could be losing weight if I wasn't willing to do it. So I don’t see firefighting as heroic because it’s something I do. As a firefighter I don’t strive to be a hero. I realized a long time ago that what I want from my career instead is the opportunity to just once make a real difference.

(You see most firefighters are trained to do the same things in similar situations. What I long for is that moment when I can be the difference. A moment when my perspective, my experiences, etc, help me to see a scene differently and dramatically change the outcome for the better. (I know someone who I have witnessed do this twice. It fills me with admiration and, to be perfectly honest, a little envy.) That won’t make me a hero, though. I don’t want that. I don’t even want recognition for making the difference.)

Brave vs. Stupid

An old man at a campground latrine (it’s a long story) once told me that “brave and stupid” where two sides of the same coin. I knew then that he was right. The only difference in the two is how things end up.

And it’s doubly true for heroes. If all they can claim is good intentions then their actions, the chances they take, are more often than not viewed as mere stupidity. And if they succeed? Well then, we consider them brave enough to do something we might not have.

You know years ago, there was a shooting in the food court of Perimeter Mall. If I remember correctly, the man who did the shooting said that he heard voices that told him to do it. He was disarmed by a man who simply walked up to him and got him to put down the gun. This man saved an unknown number of people through his simple action. Afterwards he refused to speak to the news and disappeared back into his life. I’ve often wondered, working and living in the area for a period, whether I unknowingly met him. How amazing would that be? This guy made the difference and was a hero at the same time.

Let’s bring it back to firefighting and talk a little about the rescue at the Fulton Cotton Mill fire a few years ago. If you remember, the entire mill, built of heavy timber and in the process of being converted into lofts, went up in flames trapping the crane operator at the top of his crane above the inferno. An Atlanta firefighter tethered himself below a helicopter and was lowered to the crane where he rescued the crane operator. It was very dramatic and was shown live on local television (and on CNN if I’m remembering correctly.)

Months later, I was approached at work by representatives of a church group who wanted to give an award to a “hero.” They asked if they could give it to Matt Mosley, the Atlanta firefighter who had affected the rescue. (Matt Mosley, after the rescue, had been very visible. He was given a vacation to Disney World for his family and was all over the news for a few weeks.) I told them that would be nice but suggested instead that they give the award to the helicopter pilot.

You see, even though it took guts to get on the end of that line I know that there were probably ten other firefighters ready to do it. But what most people don’t know is that they tried to get one of the many news helicopters at the scene to fly over the fire for the rescue and they all refused. It was just too dangerous. But the Department of Natural Resources pilot volunteered. He did what no one else would do. Without him the crane operator was dead. He’s the hero of that story. And I bet you don’t know his name.