To The Rescue
"I can think of no more stirring symbol of man's humanity to man than a fire engine."
Kurt Vonnegut
This week Patti has challenged us to tell a story with up to 5 of our images. I've chosen to tell just one very personal story which thankfully has a happy ending. I've opened with a capture of an active fire fighting scene. Our street, our home...you never think it will happen to you but this time, it did. The image below shows our garage once the fire was extinguished.
Post-Extinguishing
"If Prometheus was worthy of the wrath of heaven for kindling the first fire upon earth, how ought all the gods honor those who make it their professional business to put it out?"
John Godfrey Saxe
It took the restoration team weeks to clear out the ashes, smoke, odor and water before repairs could begin. The image below is an example of what happened once the smoke cleared. On the left, a pile of miscellaneous items from our home's office, on the right, the office once walls were torn down, floors ripped up and insulation torn out.
Office Before (L) and During (R)
"In fire, you can plan everything out to the minute, and a minute before that, everything changes."
Dan Felix
Despite our losses there were also positives:
- We were home when the fire started, our alarms worked, no one was injured and we did not lose the entire house
- The firefighters were here almost immediately, contained the damage quickly, and were compassionate and caring
- We had good insurance and were made whole, at least financially, for our losses
- My laptop and ruggedized hard drives with all of our records and my images survived the fire
- Our friends were incredible, offering us their homes, the use of their laundry equipment, and their love
- We were able to return home 4 months later and the lost rooms had been fully rebuilt 4 months after that
Firefighters Dedicate a New Truck
When one becomes a firefighter the greatest act of bravery has been accomplished. What he or she does after that is all in the line of work."
Edward Croker
Not long after our fire, our Photography Club undertook a project to recognize our firefighters by filling the empty walls of our two firehouses with photography. Our 100 members anonymously submitted up to 3 Kiawah images, from which the firefighters chose 26. All costs for printing and framing the 30 x 40 images were covered solely by our members. We then hung the images and jointly celebrated the club's gift and the firefighters' dedication of a new fire truck in a firestation open house (above and below).
Shown below, L to R, a plaque recognizing major donors, our committee flanked by our Fire Chief and Fire Captain (who actually led the firefight at our home), yours truly with my own image hanging at the firehouse.
"Firefighters never die, they just burn forever in the hearts of the people whose lives they saved."
Susan Diane Murphree
As a side note, after our fire we'd sent a letter to the editor of Charleston's newspaper commending the firefighters for putting their own lives at risk while saving our home. Our fire captain these many months later told me how much it meant to him and to his team when they read it there - a reminder of the importance of a simple thank you.
With that I'll offer a different thank you, this time to Patti for the opportunity to tell my story. We hope you'll join us with YOUR stories this week. Be sure to link your responses to Patti's amazing post here, and to use the Lens-Artists Tag to appear in our reader. Thank you also to those who responded to last week's Spiritual Sites challenge. Your participation resulted in a wonderful variety of perspectives on spirituality around the world.
Next week we begin our July "Month of Guest Hosts". Be sure to visit each of our amazing hosts each week as they challenge us on the following topics:
Until then, as always please stay safe, be kind and enjoy the journey.
Looking for more information on joining our challenge? Click here.
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