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| Path: Main Street : NewsWeek : Archive : Spotlight Articles : Article |
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Helping by just being there
November 15, 2004
By Cam TaitIn most of their homes there's a red phone. Nobody can make outgoing calls, but when the red phone rings they stop everything, a sound sleep, a family bar-b-que, a favourite movie or television show. They put their game faces on and venture out to the unknown. They're not paid, they just feel a sense of duty to their community.
We know them as volunteer firefighters. In many cases they live in small towns where full-fledged fire departments are more than a phone call away. Statistics from an Ontario government website says that, in 2003 there were 120,000 volunteer firefighters throughout Canada. And, more interestingly, 3,500 of the 4,000 Canadian fire departments rely on volunteer firefighters.
They save neighbors, strangers and buildings they have never been in until they axe down a door to try and save it. So our hearts must go out to the Pelham Volunteer Firefighters and the West Lincoln Volunteer Firefighters near St. Catherines, Ont. this week. They were called out to the worst farm fires in Ontario history when a farmhouse was destroyed. The Saturday wire story said dozens of volunteer firefighters turned out to the scene. But they could only stand back and watch as flames made their way through the roof, blasting out the windows of the century-old farmhouse.
There was nothing they could do but stand, watch, hope and pray for the best. But an unthinkable tragedy struck, a pregnant mother and seven children perished in the fire, leaving Marc Woerlen a man without a family.
Volunteering comes in all shapes and sizes. It's an act we hope will make a difference to someone's life. Sadly, however, sometimes the efforts of those are met with greater forces. It's hard to even imagine the sense of helplessness a volunteer firefighter would feel on such a night as was experienced last week in St. Catherines.
Volunteer firefighters are the unsung heroes of our towns. There's a temptation, perhaps, of not wanting to answer the red phone the next time it rings, but volunteer firefighters will jump to the cause. And we are eternally thankful.
Do you know someone who deserves to be in the Charity Village Spotlight? Send us their name, telephone number and details about their community involvement to cam@charityvillage.com.
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