THE UNSUNG HERO

 THE UNSUNG HERO

Jake Walsh slid down the fireman's pole at Fire Station # 5. It was a daily ritual that he performed to help keep his head in the game and a daily reminder of why he had become a fireman and what it meant to his family and the community. He could have taken the staircase like all the rest of his crew did, but that would defeat the purpose of the act.

Jake stood at the bottom and ran his hand along the sturdy brass pole. As he did so, he remembered back to when he was eight years old and the tragedy that had occurred that day.

The day had started like every other day and like every other eight-year-old; time was measured by food. Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner; oh, and don’t forget bedtime snacks. Mum had made hotdogs for dinner with a side of Kraft Dinner. It was his favourite meal of the week and something the whole family liked, even his picky little sisters. There were three of them. Bella six, Sascha three, and Hannah one. Because it was a Friday night they were allowed to stay up a little later and watch a movie while nibbling on popcorn. Hannah had her bowl of baby puffs that Jake thought looked and tasted like styrofoam. After the movie, they had all brushed their teeth and headed for bed.

Jake lay in bed unable to sleep, listening to the pitter-patter of the rain on his window and the occasional crash of thunder and lightning. He suddenly remembered he had forgotten his action figure on the coffee table and headed downstairs to get it. He heard Benjy, their new puppy, crying pitifully in the laundry room, afraid of the storm. Taking a quick look around to make sure he was alone, he opened the door and cuddled the puppy deciding he would take the puppy to his room for the night and then return it to the laundry room first thing in the morning before his parents awoke. Benjy wasn’t allowed upstairs as he was still prone to accidents, but then Benjy had never faced a loud storm on his own before and Jake was always a caring child.

Cuddled with the warm puppy under the covers he quickly fell asleep. Hours later he awoke with the puppy whimpering loudly in his arms. He could hear a roaring noise and thought that the storm must have moved right overhead.

“It's okay Benjy, it's just the storm.” he crooned, patting the puppy's soft head. Benjy continued to fuss and started to bark so Jake decided that he should take Benjy outside so he could do his business and not make a mess on Jake's bed. If Benjy made a mess in his room, there would be trouble. He quickly put on his shoes, grabbed the wiggling puppy, and crossed the room.

 Opening the door, he felt a blast of hot air and saw a wall of flame downstairs. Benjy gave a bark of terror and leaped from Jake's arms and ran back into Jake's bedroom. From the light from the flames, Jake could see his shadowy figure scamper under the bed.

“Mum! Dad!” he screamed at the top of his lungs. “Fire! The house is on fire.”

Seconds later their bedroom door opened. His Dad took an involuntary step back as the heat, the smoke, and the flames assaulted his senses.

“Stay right there,” his father ordered him, “We have to get the girls.” His Mother ran into Hannah's room and grabbed the still-sleeping baby while his Father went into the other girl's room and emerged carrying both Bella and Sascha in his arms.

The fire was traveling fast and had almost reached the staircase. “Go! Go!” Mr. Walsh urged his wife She grabbed Jake's hand in her one free hand and together they ran down the stairs, with Mr. Walsh close behind with the two girls.

 The girls were screaming in fright. At the front door, his mother released his hand to turn the lock and open the door. The wind whipped through the yard and immediately started to blow the door shut. Jake grabbed it and held it steady as his mother and father and the girls hastily exited the burning building and into the night. The night was now lit by the flames shooting out of the roof and walls.

Jake started to step out onto the porch when he remembered Benjy under his bed. He took one look at the backs of his retreating family then raced back up the stairs. He knew he had to be fast. The flames were even now licking at the staircase and dense smoke engulfed the house. Jake covered his mouth and nose with the bottom of his pajama shirt and sprinted up the stairs. The girl's bedroom at the back of the house was engulfed in flames but his room was at the front and the flames had not reached it yet.

 He burst into his room and automatically hit the light switch which did nothing as the electrical panel had already gone up in flames. He raced across his room and fell to his knee, reaching under the bed for the puppy. Benjy in terror refused to cooperate, burrowing himself deeper and deeper under the bed. Jake had just grabbed a hind leg when there was a tremendous crash and Jake felt the entire house tremble. He pulled with all his might and hugged Benjy close to his body. Jake ran to his desk and grabbed his backpack, throwing everything out of it onto the floor and cramming the little puppy into the pack. He quickly zipped it up leaving a small opening in the top for Benjy to breathe. His own breath was becoming laboured and he could feel the tightness in his chest as the room grew more smokey. He slung the backpack onto his back and heard the puppy whimper inside it.

 Turning to the door he could see that the roof had collapsed over the staircase which was now lying broken and burning on the main floor along with flaming trusses and shingles. He could hear his father shouting his name from the main floor, he had come back into the house searching for the missing Jake, narrowly escaping with his life when the roof collapsed annihilating the staircase and Jake's only chance of escape.

“Dad! Dad!” he shouted loudly, unsure if his voice could be heard over the roar of the fire. He thought he heard a whisper “window, window”. Yes, he would escape through the window. He ran back to his room from the second-floor hallway and slammed the door. He ran to the window and saw his mother and sisters huddled together by the curb surrounded by their neighbours.

Old Mrs. McNamara was in her dressing gown, her hair done up in curlers, her arm around his mother and the O’Connor family was out in full force, every one of them pajama-clad. He could see Mr. Grant from next door with his hose in hand, spraying down his roof. Looking angry or was it worried?

Jake tried to unlock the window but it wouldn’t budge. The house was a fully restored heritage house and like most old houses had its quirks and one of its idiosyncrasies was swollen windows that occasionally refused to open. He would just have to break the window and jump. He saw his father standing below his window, his arms extended over his head waiting for Jake to jump into his arms. He was standing dangerously close to the big maple tree that was outside his window. The tree was outside the window; however, it was too far to climb up and too far to climb down. The tree was also on fire as were several bushes in the vicinity.

 A big crash and another part of the heritage roof came down. Jake saw his father jump to one side as it narrowly missed him. The crash was followed by the sound of sirens nearby. Jake watched as the fire crew pulled up and quickly went about their duties. They moved like a well-oiled machine, each firefighter knowing their specific duty and performing them with speed and dedication. Jake watched as the police pulled up behind the firetrucks and started to herd the group of watchers further away to a safer area. He could see his mother pointing to his window. 

It was surprising how fast the fire crew worked yet it seemed an interminable length of time before they had a ladder running up the side of the house.

The smell was strong now too. ‘Like a marshmallow roast without the marshmallows,’ thought Jake. Smoke was coming in from under the door. Jake grabbed the small rug from beside the bed and stuffed it in the crack in front of his door. The floor was getting hot too.

“Stand back,” shouted the firefighter at the top of the ladder. “I'm going to break the window.”

 Jake retreated to the far side of the room, He could feel the heat against the wall and could hear the flames as they licked the outside of his bedroom wall.

There was a loud crash as the window shattered shards flying everywhere. Jake felt the sting against his forehead but ignored the pain. There was a crashing sound as the roof started to cave in and Jake flew across the room and into the waiting arms of the firefighter. The fireman held him briefly for a moment, Is there anyone else inside the firefighter asked. Jake answered him …no. The firefighter glanced briefly around the room and then carefully backed down the ladder. When they reached the bottom of the ladder, he carried Jake away from the house and close to the nearest fire truck. His parents were there crying and laughing and hugging and kissing even his three sisters joined in. Together they stood and watched as their home and memories went up in flames, The smell was a pungent aroma, smokey and acrid. They stood together for a long time, mesmerized by the hypnotic view of the flames devouring their house.

It took hours before the flames were completely extinguished. Mrs. McNamara had offered her house as a place of refuge for the family. Who knew that crotchety old Mrs. McNamara had a heart? Jake's mum took the three little girls over to her house to put them to sleep. Jake stayed with his father, it felt good to have his father's arms around his shoulders, holding him tight as together they both witnessed the destruction of their home. The neighbours had left long ago. One by one they returned to their own homes. Their safe homes. Before each family left, they came and shook hands with the Walsh family or offered quick heartfelt hugs. Jake somehow felt like a man as he stood with his father.

Finally, there were just the two of them standing before the burning house. The charred beams and joists looked like scorched bones. One of the fire trucks was backing up preparing to return to the fire hall while the other truck stayed to make sure that the fire was completely gone out and there were no hotspots left to start the fire up again. 

The firefighter who had come to Jake’s window came over to the two lone watchers and introduced himself as Dave McGee.

“You have a very smart boy there, Mr. Walsh. I only got a glance in his bedroom but I saw from the flashlight mounted on my helmet that he had already shoved a rug under the door to keep the smoke from the fire from entering the room. He had closed the door, put on his shoes, and secured his dog.” Jake’s dad shook his hand and grasped his shoulder. ‘Thank you’ was all he could get out. His eyes were swimming in tears.

 Next Fireman Dave came to Jake and held out his hand. Jake shook his hand and then gave him the firefighter the biggest hug ever. 

“Thank you, you are my hero,” Jake said. “You saved me. You should get a medal or something, or  maybe your picture in the newspaper.”

Dave hung his head for a moment and then spoke softly, “I’m glad I could help you, but I’m no hero, It’s all in a day’s work, We don’t do it for the praise, we don’t do it for a chance to get our pictures in the newspaper or on TV. We don’t do it for the glory or medals. We do it for the people.”

Jake nodded, the simple words of Fireman Dave, acted like an epiphany in his heart and in his brain.

“You come and visit me now and then, You know where we are?”

“Sure, just two blocks away, I know exactly where the firehall is. I pass it every day on the way to and from school.”

                                              ********

From that day forward, Jake stopped in almost every day to say hello to Fireman Dave. Sometimes Dave would be in the firehall and some days he would be out on the job. The two unlikely pair became good friends. Dave taught him how to slide down the pole, the names of all their tools, and how they were used. Dave gave him small jobs to do in the Firehall, sweeping the Firehall, and helping clean the equipment.

Years went by and the two remained close. Fireman Dave always told Jake that he remembered thinking as he slid down the fireman’s pole that day; that something special was going to happen. Later he came to realize that meeting Jake and his family was the special event.

On the last day of high school, Jake stopped by the Firehall one last time.

“I guess this is goodbye Chief,” he said, shaking hands with his old friend Dave. “ I'm off to my summer job and then off to school right after that.”

“I guess so. I'm proud of you, my boy. Going off to the fire academy. I know you will make a great firefighter. You have courage, and dedication and are committed to saving lives.” 

“I'm excited Dave but nervous too. There is so much to learn and so many skills to be learned, firefighter survival courses, ladder deployment, search and rescue, auto extraction, and forcible entry. The amount they teach us is staggering.”

 Yes, but you have an advantage over most of the people taking the course; you have been my right-hand man for years now. It wasn't easy to get permission for you to take rides with the crew, but we did it. You helped prepare the fire trucks, coil miles of hose, washed our boots, and gave support to families when their houses went up in flames. Just for families to know that someone else has gone through what your family has gone through and come out on the other side is so incredibly supportive.”

“It's what I've always wanted. Ever since you climbed up that ladder and saved me from the fire, that's all I wanted to be, Someone like you. But I'm afraid someday I might let someone down. That I might not climb that ladder fast enough, that I might not position a hose exactly where it needs to go. That I can't rescue those kids in a burning car.”

“Jake, you have been around this firehall most of your life now, serving your community the best you could while still going to school. You know we can't always do the impossible, remember what I always said to you. It's not in our hands, it's in God's hands. Every man on my crew would be happy to serve alongside you.”

“But….But…” Jake sputtered.

“You can do it Jake, being an unsung hero is in your blood. It's your calling in life. It’s your destiny.”