A veteran firefighter starts the discussion. "An awful lot of people in the county have said we're heroes. My response to that is 'No, we're not.' We're people who volunteer our time just like anybody else. We may not volunteer for the United Way, the Red Cross or stand for election to the school board, but we do this because this is the way we want to give back to the community.

"I personally don't see myself as a hero, but as another human being who volunteers my time to help others." A veteran of decades of rescue squad involvement continues the discussion. "I agree with that. you know, if you can save just one life, that's a lot. And if someone looks up at you and says, 'Thank you ... you saved my life.' ... that's what this is all about."

Another fire department volunteer concurs, "That's all we want. Personally, a 'thank you' goes a long way. Any volunteer for any cause would like somebody to say 'thank you' to them.

"We're just normal people, and this is the way we choose to volunteer our time. We're not any different than anybody else—we're no better, no worse; we just try to help people."

Another rescue squad member extends his praise to the families of fire and rescue volunteers. "We do this every day because we want to. I believe the real heroes are our families. We were gone 12 to 15 hours that Sunday; our families never saw us; they allow us to do this.

"They stand behind us 110 percent—not knowing what is happening on a call, whether we've become a victim or everything is okay." A participant in the rescue efforts who is also an unseen bower of human nature and behavior adds, "What I saw up there at that wreck was amazing. Nothing was ever out of hand. It was like ... 'you do this' ... 'you do this' ... no one was competing for air time. There was plenty for everybody to do, and everybody did it. It just amazed me the whole time that nobody got excited.

"I was impressed. It comes down to the same old thing—this is a pretty nice place to live. Each of us may not know everybody, but when it comes down to working together for the common good, we do it."