The holidays are a time for mellow memories, to pause before starting a new year. However, if you are part of the fire, rescue and EMS services, the holiday season can be tough on you.

December is about family gatherings and being with good friends,
Until you extricate a family from their auto, crushed by a drunk driver.

December brings dreams of white Christmas and crispy nights,
Until ice crusts your helmet while you're fighting a fire in sub-zero weather.

December illuminates houses with holiday decorations inside and out,
Until you respond to a call where a Christmas tree burst into flames.

December is about the romantic, warm glow of candlelight,
Until one left unattended engulfs the room in flames.

December is about cozy fires in the fireplace,
Until creosote in a chimney blows fire out the roof.

December brings good memories and sometimes sad ones,
When the lonely, sick or the elderly call for help -- and attention.

You are a private citizen and a public servant, doing what you can when called upon.

Have you seen "The Guys"? My brother gave me a copy of the movie on DVD to watch last weekend. It's about a New York journalist who, in the days after Sept. 11, 2001, helps an FDNY captain write eulogies for the eight men he lost. Sigourney Weaver and Anthony LaPaglia star in the movie about the fire service, emotions and heroism.

Weaver's character, the journalist, feels frustrated and helpless that she can only help write eulogies, that she can only offer words, her tools, to help the captain honor his men.

Similarly, your words -- cards and letters -- to the firefighter/soldiers serving overseas that we listed on our Web site, have made a difference thousands of miles away.

It appears many have responded to our holiday mail call for soldiers overseas. My mail is filling up with thankful notes from the soldiers listed in "Firefighters, Soldiers at War."


"Thank you for the cards and e-mails of support from all of the firefighters from across the nation," wrote Sgt. David Winstead, a Tennessee firefighter/paramedic serving in Iraq. "We soldiers overseas will never forget or quit. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Balad, Iraq."

"I have cards and even a small package from all over the U.S.," Wisconsin firefighter Sgt. Matthew Nechy wrote. "I even received a card from Canada. I appreciate all the support from the fellow firefighters I have never even met. It is a great feeling. I am glad to know that people back home care about the troops."

"Thanks a lot for your support for all of us! I have received a great deal of e-mail and cards from people all over the country, and it really means a lot," wrote Chicago firefighter MSgt. Gregory Boggs.

Our readers are the best in the world. As December brings this year to a close, we thank you for being there -- for being the kind of people who always respond. May you have peace in your home and in your heart.

Happy Holidays from the staff of FIRE CHIEF magazine.


Janet Wilmoth, Editor