Do you remeber when you were in FF1 classes, or whatever live fire class you took? Do you rememeber how the WORST thing you can do when entering a house on fire is get tunnel vision? And by tunnel vision I mean to see flame and just go to it like a moth, with balls of steel, pounding your chest, "unga unga,me put fire out". If it was just put the wet stuff on the red stuff, we would only ever need one engine, one line maybe two, for a house fire; snuff it and go home. But it's not. There are floors that can give out, ceilings that can fall, people that could be trapped, smoke that can be covering a hidden treasure, or tragety. I once went to a house fire where the initial engine company was bragging how they got there and put out the fire. Hands clapping beating of chests, the big dogs on campus. Well when the ventalation was complete and the secondary search for the resident began she was found. Found in the middle of the hallway with the 1 3/4 laying over her chest. See the attack team tunneled out on the allure of the flame and never felt or sounded the floor as they advanced the line. And the heap of what they thought was junk, turned out to be the body of the resident. Now in their defence, the house was full of clutter, however this was in the middle of the hall floor. Missed by the initial search team because they figured the attack team got the hallway they advanced the line down. This isn't to put that team down this is an example of how tunnel vision works. Maybe had they sounded and felt around and realized it was a body she would have survived. Maybe, no one really knows. There is a reason we have sooo many rigs and personell, because there is much more to the story than flame control.

 The reason I started this thread is because the fire service as a whole is starting to get tunnel vision. We have adopted a new philosophy that states, we are here for fires. The way a nozzleman might say I am here to put out fire. All we do is fires, accidents, and some EMS. We have been bit by bit turning our backs to the members of our community. I blame this primarily on the loss of community. There was a time when you knew everyone. So when Mrs. Brown down the road had her cat up the tree, well you went and helped her out because she used to run the library and let you get away with late returns. And she had you over for thanksgiving the year your mom got sick and you had no thanksgiving. Those days are long since past. The level of community is not what it once was. So does that mean we are no longer a community service? Are we, plain and simply, an extention of the public utilities? Someone will be there between ten and two?

 I do not dispute that the overall public has made it harder for us to love them. I tire of showing up at at 82 y/o aunt Nancies  who called for a laceration, which means that she cut herself yesterday cooking and wants to go to the doctors to get it looked at. But does that mean we shuold get angry and hate them for it? Is it truely a waist of our time? Whenever I say somethig and bring this up with guys, the number one responce I hear is, "what if I'm wasting my time here and a house fire comes in. Now there is a delayed responce". Well, what if? I'll tell you what if. Another rig may beat you in and you will not get to pund your chest. The house will be extinguished. You simlpy say, we have another call that's a greater emergency we have to leave, sorry. It's honest, they will nine times out of ten understand taht a house on fire is more important, if it is. So are we falling victim, or rather is our community falling victim to tunnel vision? Are we becoming Cornjulio walking around with our hands up shirt over our head "hmm, hmmm uhh FIRE yeah hmmhmm". Why waist time on an elderly lady, when you can be available sitting in the watch room hoping for "the big one". We always care about being ready for the big one. Well, what about the little ones? What about the non emergency no gloriuos ones that are almost time fillers that would delay your responce no more than, well, going out to eat instead of cooking in? For every big one you face there are 700 little ones or more going on all around you. We act like it is such a hardship to not be available for the big one. I have helped old mary, rescued a cat, a duck, and never once did I miss the big one because of it. Why? The odds are 200/1 that you will even get another call while doing somethign for your community(changes with avg. call volume), and even larger that it will be "the big one".DC engine 10 can't because they legitimatly run their butts off. But what about the thousands of stations that run 600,1000 or 2000 calls ayear. Are they really sooo busy and respond sooo slowly that to not be waiting for the big one would be a hardship?

 So I ask, are we nothing more than an extention of public utilities, or are we a community service. A service unto all. And are we getting tunnel vision, so caught up on being ready for the big one that we are willing to drape a handline over the chest of the not as fun to do, less bragging rights, part of the community service? I believe we are facing our greatest cross roads in FD history. On this side we are hero's, and loved by our community, (though they are two faced and want you to hury when they need you and slow down when they don't) but we are doing some of the stupidest calls, and some things we would rather be back catching up on Deadliest Catch over. On the other side we chose what we do, they will hate us and they will sue us. We will be looked at as just another over payed group of people fed from tax dollars. Who don't come nor care, because they want to sit in the watch room ready for the big one. It;s not necessarily the truth, but public perception is 99% of it. Ask a polititian why they spend half the money on PR.

 I think we have lost the love for our community, turned it into a job, got tunnel vision, and just don't care enough for our fellow, whatever town you are running in, to want to do whats best for it. There was a time when my department would visit this old lady in our first run area just to see how she was doing, because we had been there a couple times and my asst. chief cared enough about his community to take the time to check in on her. The ambulance went there from time to time to watch a tv show with her (still in service for a call) because it made her feel cared about. And when she died the duty crew showed at her wake quickly to pay their respects. We never missed anything from the time spent with her. The amnulance even responded to a call once from her house and no one was harmed by it. Obviously we can't do that with everyone, but it shows that we can still do something other than sit on our duff after chores in the watch room waiting, and actually be a part of our community.

Don't get angry or offended, it's just my 2 cents. And I am curios if I'm alone in this. Maybe I'm just old school and need to get with the times.

 And no this has nothing to do with the events in Tenn. That will play out on it's own, I just hope the community is stronger from it and not torn appart.