Friday, March 13, 2009

I'm sorry I failed you...




It was a typical day at the fire station. The claxton sounded and I boarded the fire engine and off we went, lights flashing and sirens blasting. On arrival we found a two story apartment building with smoke bellowing from it. My mission was, go to the second floor and complete a search for people. With a charged (filled with water) hose line my fire company started up the stairs. I was either in front or second as we approached the second floor. A baby crib was at the top of the stairs. Then it happened, something that firefighters never want to happen, the hose went limp. We lost our supply of water. The smoke was thick but I could see the crib on the stair landing, I grabbed it and told my men to go back down the stairs (later realized the crib was empty). You never want to go into a burning structure without your lifeline (a charged hose). As my head cleared the level of the second floor and I was half-way down the stairs the roof collapsed and blocked the second floor landing. When we got back outside, the fire engine pump operator was noticeably upset and started apologizing to me for losing water. I said, hey don't apologize, if you had not lost water causing our fire hose to go limp we would have not backed out and would have more than likely been killed when the roof collapsed.

He felt like he had failed us but God used him to save us.

Remember God is in control. We will never know how many times he has saved us from harmsway. Trust him, he has not and will not ever fail you!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a VERY good story and message.

Donovan said...

Thanks Jamie!

Rebecca said...

Hi Jack. I'm just catching up on reading your blog. I am SO glad that no one was hurt in this incident. I have a lot of respect and admiration for firefighters. Your job is a tough one and you put you life on the line to save the rest of us. God bless you!

Donovan said...

Thanks Rebecca! I appreciate your comments!!