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Working through Turkey Day |
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Wednesday, 25 November 2009 |
On Thanksgiving day, millions of Americans will huddle around a turkey with their families, and later gather around the television to likely watch two NFL teams compete against each other.
There are others, though, that spend their Thanksgiving Day at work, always ready to keep everyone else safe and sound.
“Holidays are still special,” Benton Fire Department Capt. Greg Ford said. “It can feel less special though because we’ve got to be here at the station, but you just have to learn to accept. We just have to be here to do our job.”
Along with numerous police officers, 911 dispatchers, ambulance service workers, hospital employees and other emergency workers protecting the local community, firefighters are here for the community day and night, even during the holidays. The list also includes the U.S. military men and women protecting our freedoms all across the world.
“It was rough the first year I had to be here on Thanksgiving and Christmas,” Benton firefighter Justin Gregory said. “We also work on New Year’s Eve, Fourth of July, Halloween, and every other holiday. We are here 24-7. We know it comes with the job, but it is really tough when you have kids and a wife at home.”
“Thanksgiving isn’t really that bad of a holiday to work for me,” Benton firefighter Randy Wright said. “Working Christmas Eve really sucks to work though, because I have two kids at home.”
There is also another downside to working on the holidays besides not being able to visit families at home. There are also the calls they must respond to on the local streets.
“You can’t describe what it feels like having to go to a fatal accident on Christmas day,” Gregory explained. “We may sit here all day and night and not have much to respond too, but you do get those calls sometimes too. The calls vary just like other days, but you have to remember that people are traveling all over visiting family, especially in the evenings.”
To help ease an emergency workers minds and boost their moral, often the community leaders and even local residents will do something special for those working on holidays. Bryant Fire Chief Randy Cox said for the past eight years or so, he and Bryant Fire Captain Ryan McCormick will deep fry two turkey, call all the Bryant firefighters to one building and bring them the food. He said the fire department also invites the 911 dispatchers and police officers on duty to join them.
“We also invite their families to join them and myself and Capt. McCormick will take over calls for about two hours to let them have time to eat and visit,” Cox said. “Now if there is fire or if we have to extricate someone from a vehicle, then they’ll unfortunately have to go out on duty, but we try to give them an opportunity to have some kind of holiday.”
Cox, like Gregory, said when they have to respond to a bad situation on a holiday, it is never pleasant. However, he said even that can later “flip” into a positive outcome.
“About eight years ago, we responded to Mr. (Dale) Ratliff’s house in town and found that he had a heart attack,” Cox said. “After his survival, he told us we don’t have to ever worry about a Christmas meal anymore. And man does he bring a spread for us, from the ham and turkey to all the trimmings.”
On other days when nothing is going on in their respective cities, when there is not accidents, fires, or crimes being committed, the emergency workers find themselves quiet, but at peace.
“A lot of times we just like to act like we are at home, eating and watching football like everyone else,” Gregory said. “Now it can be hard on our wives, especially if you have kids, because you are gone and all the responsibilities at home falls on their shoulders. They are usually always understanding though and supportive of us.”
Gregory added, “It may be Christmas Eve and your tucked into your bed at 2:30 a.m. and we may get a call, but it is what we do.”
Benton Fire District Chief Garland Phillips said that generally, each firefighters try to help each other out to see their families. He said the firefighters work together to work a little over for each other, or can come in early to let another firefighter coming off shift go a little early. It is all to help each other see their families, even if for just a few minutes.
“It is also great to these guys when they get to get home a little early to wake their kids on Christmas mornings and they tell them ‘look what Santa Claus brought you’,” Wright said. “But then you have the other side where you might have your family here and then you have to go out on a call.”
“You learn to eat fast,” Benton Firefighter Mike Johnson said. “When your here, especially on the holidays, you just hope you don’t have to go anywhere. Because if you do go out on a call, that means someone else isn’t having a good holiday.”
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