While many people in Westlock and hundreds of other, similar communities across the country donate hours of their time, there is only one set of people for whom volunteering is more than just doing good.
They are the volunteer firefighters.
They are the men and women who willingly risk their lives to ensure the property, possessions and lives of their neighbours remain safe.
And they don’t care who they’re helping — best friend, mortal enemy, brother, sister, you name it — when the call goes out to respond to the fire hall, they’re there to put things right as best they can.
Now, the question could bear asking — why?
As volunteers, they’re paid a pittance for the life-threatening work they do. They’re not like city firefighters whose career it is to fight fires and perform other emergency duties.
It could be said the perils volunteer firefighters face in small communities like Westlock can be significantly less than their city counterparts.
And in some ways that is true.
Yet when it comes right down to it, fire is fire, no matter where it’s burning and no matter what caused it.
Any burning building is at risk of collapsing.
We saw that when the downtown house was destroyed by a fire in April of this year. Although the structure is still standing, there were a few tense moments when firefighters were inside the upper floor and some part of the building shifted.
No one was hurt, but that moment nearly brought into stark reality just how much danger our volunteer firefighters put themselves in.
So with Fire Prevention Week now upon us, take the time to thank your local firefighters for what they do.
They’re not doing it for the money, and it’s likely they’re not doing it for the ego trip either.
They want to help make their communities better and safer places, so much so that they are willing to risk grievous injury or even death to achieve that goal. And that is what a true hero does, eschew fame and fortune to better his or her little corner of the world.
