POEM - What Firefighters Face

5-1/2" x 8-1/2"Author: William C. RichmondCommissioner of the PFD 1977/1984

WHAT FIREFIGHTERS FACEI know what people write and sayAbout the way we earn our pay.But by my God I know our placeAnd what it is that firefighters face.The summer heat like a fiery oven...The iced up coat we couldn't open...The lady pinned behind the wheel...The worker pierced by a shaft of steel. ..The window ledge we just couldn't reach...The bolted door that wouldn't breach...The chilling scream, "My kid's in there"...The smoke dense room we had to dare...The "mouth-to-mouth" that proved too slow...The boiling tank that just lets go...The spongy floor that starts to fall...The brother buried beneath a wall...So let them say whatever they please,I'll make no effort to appease...And in my heart lies no disgraceFor I know what firefighters face.William C. Richmond 1977/1984