Volunteer emergency personel

I want to get on my soap box for a moment here. There are a lot of people out there who are working at jobs on a volunteer basis that most of us wouldn't do for any amount of pay.
Sometimes when you live in a larger community, you take these people a little for granted. They went to school for this, they trained just for this, it's how they make their living. At that, I think we should spend a little more time thinking about these everyday heroes. Who else goes into a burning building while everyone else is trying to get out?
My uncle and his older sons were all volunteers in a small town. Whenever the sirens would sound, my cousins' wives would gather at my aunt's house and worry until they had come home. In a rural community, there are a lot of fire situations that get out of hand so quickly. Barn fires can be particularly nasty, as bad as factories in their own way.
Back to the soap box though.
I think, when you live in a community, it is really a privilege to serve in some way. There has to be something really good about that feeling when you get back from doing something, when you realize you have made a large difference in the lives of others. To be able to do something that big must be even more amazing. Yet all of the firefighters I know prefer to be humble about that service.
I have been fortunate to never need the services of the men and women in the big red trucks. If the day should come that I do, I just hope that I remember to thank them. Before then, I think I may just have to pay a visit to the station when they are doing their weekly training.