As of this writing, more than 166,000 acres of wildfires are actively burning in the state of Colorado alone, according to http://inciweb.org. The Waldo Canyon fire, burning west of Colorado Springs, represents just over 16,000 of those acres, or 10 percent of the stateís firefighting efforts.Weíre not strangers to wildfire incidents in Colorado ñ far from it. However, most of us probably havenít sat on our decks or looked out our kitchen windows to watch immense plumes of smoke rising to the west. And most of us have not taken cover in our homes for days to avoid the smoke and its damaging effects. We are also not accustomed to hearing that in a matter of a few hours 346 of our neighborsí homes were burnt to the ground. Itís devastating, to say the least.More than 1,500 personnel are fighting the Waldo Canyon fire. Theyíve arrived over several days, in stages, to fight the blaze. I think about those men and women up there and wonder what the days are like for them. How do they do it? What makes them tick? There might be psychological studies galore that answer these questions with more certainty; but what is clear in our eyes is that they demonstrate dedication, self-sacrifice, courage, pride, compassion for others, drive, competence, a strong work ethic, ability to work in a team, physical agility and mechanical aptitude; to name a few.We take for granted that our firefighters are there to help us in time of need. Indeed, these days our firefighters not only fight fires, but they are also trained in emergency medical response, as well as hazardous materials response. They are in our neighborhoods, always ready to come to our aid. About 70 percent of firefighters in the U.S. work on a volunteer basis. Thatís dedication.Thank you, firefighters, for everything you do for us every single day. And thank God for the 1,500 or more of you who have fought the Waldo Canyon fire, protecting thousands of homes from destruction. The losses are devastating, but weíre indebted to those who have saved so much.Be safe,– Deb, Michelle and the NFH team
