I am always amazed that for some reason while thinking about what to write about every week someone or something always seems to reach out for me. This poem was forwarded to me from an unknown person.

Earth Angels

The house is burning quickly, there are people trapped inside;

The engine moved so swiftly, but it still seemed so slow;

I check on my partner, he checks on me, and we are all set to go;

We enter the house and we must stay low because the heat is so intense;

A child is trapped down the hall, the crawl seems so very slow;

My partner and I watch each other, we have one another’s backs;

My life in his hands and his is in mine, we work side by side;

Two brave men risking it all fighting for a young boy’s life;

It’s so hard, it’s so tough, but we find the courage to push on;

A child needs us, the fire roars, until we can barely hear his cries;

The devil dares us to dance in his den, but there is no turning back;

We count on each other, to all of our crew, that we might come out alive;

The spirits and Angels of all those before us provide the strength to find our way;

We pull him to safety and just in time, the house is starting to come down;

We put it all on the line and we know the risks that we might never make it home;

We don’t do it for money and we don’t do it for fame, its much more than that;

Some folks call us heroes, that we fight what they fear, a title we hold dear;

We work till it’s over and we know what it costs;

Many brothers have paid the ultimate price;

Our life is of service, our life is of pain, yet we continue to carry on;

We have our traditions and symbols, memorials that honor those we’ve lost;

We are angels on Earth tasked to dance with the devil in his fiery hell;

We are known by names the world over, but hold none with more pride;

The two words that everyone knows, you can simply call us Fire Fighters.

By: Brian Freese Firefighter/EMT Springville Fire Dept.

Michael Heath is president of the St. John Professional Firefighters Association.