I’m going to a Firematic Service for a deceased honorary member tonight. We’ll gather at the firehouse in our Class A uniforms and proceed to the Funeral Home. I know a large number of members will attend, they always do. Those in attendance will line up single file on both sides of the parlor room, remove cover, listen to the brief service and then in groups of two, proceed to the coffin for a final salute.
I’ve been to more Firematic Services then I can remember. Some have been for younger members that I knew well, but most have been for senior guys who served many years ago and who I hardly, if at all knew.
What motivates so many to go to these services and pay tribute to those we might have just known in passing or given a quick, “how you doing?” nod to?
There are many reasons and I think each individual firefighter has a different motivation for attending such somber events.
Personally, a number of thoughts go through my mind when I attend a Firematic Service. Obviously I feel as a fellow brother these members deserve my respect and admiration for their own dedicated service.
Even if I did not know the person well, they served like I do and all of us do. Understanding our own motivations for joining the fire service gives us some insight into the deceased. He or she in many ways had to be like us. Our personal need to help and serve and be compassionate were most likely also their traits. This bond truly made this individual our brother or sister.
I always look at the family of the deceased at a Firematic Service. There are both tears and this tremendous look of pride. I think this public display of fire department respect is important for the immediate family, relatives and friends to witness. It puts the person’s life into perspective and shows what made them special and different.
The other motivation that we probably don’t like talking about is our own mortality. Many of us must wonder what the room would look like for our own Firematic Service.
As we are laid to rest many who found it difficult to understand why we would get up in the middle of the night to make a call would finally be able to comprehend why we devoted our lives to this type of service.
Also on The Fire PIO…
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- PIO Product Review – MediaSync – September 16, 2010
- PIO Help Wanted – September 1, 2010
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