Twenty-eight years. I never looked back

Twenty-eight years ago I started a career in the Burnaby Fire Department ( I have a few years to go still !!!) I had no idea in my career I would ever experience that amount of physical mental and emotional trauma. I kept a diary to help me cope and hope it to be an interesting book "Flashover" As many in this profession of first responders we have seen the extremes of tragedy and happiness, success and failure. We worked the best as we could in a team, did what we got paid for and were trained to do, and did our very best because failure could be tragic. From delivering babies and seeing their first breath to holding the hands of people as they took their last. It is a career like no other. It can be so emotional that few leave or retire being the same person they were when they first started.The divorce rate for firefighters is three times that of the general population. A functioning, long-term marriage in this profession is uncommon; a happy, thriving, intimate one is rare. Many cancer rates up to four times as high. I believe the toxicity and exposure to carcinogenic materials doing my job gave me and the entire regular crew of four men I worked many years with the same cancer .Bearing all this in mind, I would do this career again in a heartbeat. That moment of seeing a first breath, success in getting that breath or heartbeat back, and being part of a well trained team in an intense but successful battle with fire are the most exciting, emotional and gratifying experiences one could ever imagine. I am also proud to be a Canadian from British Columbia as I am welcomed around the world in the most humbling manor. Thank you.