Superman, Ironman, Batman, Fireman, Human…We have a tendency- at times to momentarily lapse in recognizing we “Fireman” (and this is related to all gender of firefighters) are Human. Everyday, firefighters throughout America and the world perform extraordinary feats of bravery and heroism, much of it unheralded, unnoticed and underappreciated. It's part of our job, it's what we do, after all, we are fireman (firefighters).

We know. Our companies know, and more importantly our “families” know; who we are and what we do. We perform the job that we swore an oath to uphold, we learned of the traditions of the service that we came to embrace; we learned our responsibilities, our job and the measures that sometimes need to be taken.

There has been plenty of banter over the past few weeks related to the diversity of conventional wisdom related to what a firefighter is made of, the mettle that separate those that choose the virtues of suppression versus those that profess a safety cultural demeanor. We are all firefighters in the truest sense of the word when we choose to wear the badge; to donn our protective equipment and step off the apparatus and into a burning structure in order to undertake the measures and demands required of us; at that moment, at that time and place and under the circumstances that will clearly dictate the path of our destiny, duty, courage, honor and fortitude.

Do the Job; push the envelope; for the right reasons, for the right cause and the most noblest of circumstances. Do it for the right reasons-BUT don’t do it for the entertainment. Accept personal accountability and responsibility. Understand your limitations, but also comprehend what we are capable of doing under the most difficult of situations, because of who we are.

Remember, it is about the public we serve AND our “families”.Take a moment to listen to the words in the NFFF, EGH program video. HERE, or HERE. Think about your accountability, responsibility and safety, while doing The Best Job in the world.

We are Fireman and yes at times we are Superman, but above all, we are still Human. Stay safe to fight that next fire, to answere that next alarm on another day….and to go home to your family. A must read follow-up posted on May 11th, on Firegeezer by Mike "Fossile Medic" Ward that aligns the focus with a number of current safety issues affecting the Fire Service....and the May 22nd Posted by Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on Cultivating a Civilized Approach to Safety or Chief Mick Mayers's post on Firefighting as Asymetrical Warfare HERE