Having watched Dateline's story about the three FDNY brothers who were killed last week, I was so glad to hear the preliminary report on the fire from Cmr. Von Essen.
I heard refreshing realism from FDNY: Sometimes routine fires just go terribly wrong, and sometimes firefighters just die.
We don't like to hear that, but it's the truth, dammit, and if we're ready to stop living in a fantasy world and face our own mortality, we'll admit that.
Too many times we say, "Oh, they shouldn't have gone in on that fire," or "That building was showing signs of collapse." And often, that's the case. Firefighters are still human and make human mistakes, mistakes that kill them.
But other times, Monday-morning quarterbacking is just self-deception. It's our way of convincing ourselves that in that same situation, we wouldn't have gotten killed.
It doesn't work that way. It's God's mercy and a good bit of dumb luck that's gotten us home from every fire, and sometimes, the outcome will just be different.
What do other FH.com users think? I'd really like to hear from FDNY brothers & sisters.
[This message has been edited by EastKyFF (edited 06-27-2001).]
I heard refreshing realism from FDNY: Sometimes routine fires just go terribly wrong, and sometimes firefighters just die.
We don't like to hear that, but it's the truth, dammit, and if we're ready to stop living in a fantasy world and face our own mortality, we'll admit that.
Too many times we say, "Oh, they shouldn't have gone in on that fire," or "That building was showing signs of collapse." And often, that's the case. Firefighters are still human and make human mistakes, mistakes that kill them.
But other times, Monday-morning quarterbacking is just self-deception. It's our way of convincing ourselves that in that same situation, we wouldn't have gotten killed.
It doesn't work that way. It's God's mercy and a good bit of dumb luck that's gotten us home from every fire, and sometimes, the outcome will just be different.
What do other FH.com users think? I'd really like to hear from FDNY brothers & sisters.
[This message has been edited by EastKyFF (edited 06-27-2001).]
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