For all Volunteer Fire Department members:

This past Wednesday morning on Interstate 65 Southbound around mile marker 87 in Kentucky,a tragedy occurred.  A man was killed while he was trying to help.  That does not make a great deal of sense.  It never has and it never will.

There was a van on fire along the Interstate in hours of the morning when the rest of us are sound asleep and not paying as much as an ounce of care to the sound of a scanner that alerts some folks…but not you and me in most cases… to action because someone out there needs help.    That is what volunteer fire fighters do.  They listen for a distress signal.  When they hear it, they fly into action.

Jonathan French, age 25, of Glendale, Kentucky was one of those guys.  He was a volunteer fire fighter.  On Wednesday morning he heard a call on a scanner or got a call from a buddy or found out however he did and he went into action.  He and is 43 year-old mother, a volunteer fire fighter herself, went to the aid of the distressed van on Interstate 65.  While they were on the scene trying to do the right thing, a semi truck added to the accident when it struck Jonathan and his mother.  Lisa French will recover…physically, that is.  Her son Jonathan was killed.

Even though Carrie and I have two sons, Jarrett and Cody, who are trained volunteer fire fighters, I never gave their mortality as fire fighters a second thought before this week.  Jarrett is 26 and Cody is 24. They seem too vital to…well.  Jonathan French was 25.

Volunteer fire fighters.  The rest of us just don’t get it.  We don’t understand the commitment these guys and gals undertake to go into action when there is a call of distress.  These folks take their wants, needs, and concerns and make them that of the person or persons and property that may be in jeopardy.  They don’t get paid to know and understand the ins and outs of various pieces of equipment that would make most of us look very silly if we were the ones in the position of trying to make any of it work.

I just had a conversation recently…it may have been with in another part of the country…with someone and we were talking about  house fires and how a sum of money needed to be paid to the fire department and if you did not pay…your place would just burn.  I know I heard that somewhere recently.  Maybe it was back in days gone by.  Regardless, our men and women whom have made the commitment to come to the aid and rescue of another needing their service deserve our respect and our admiration.

Around here in Southern Indiana and around the Louisville area, what the media refers to as “Kentuckiana”, volunteer fire fighters on both sides of the Ohio River tirelessly collect money at 4-way stops and other intersection on behalf of the WHAS Crusade for Children, a charitable entity that has helped scores of kids in many ways, shapes, and forms.

Cody and his fellow volunteers traveled around and went door to door asking for donations for this most worthy cause.  Carrie and I were quite proud of him.

Cody collecting for The WHAS Crusade for Children

Do me a favor.  If you see a fire truck, get out of the way.  Give them room to work.  Stay out of the way.  If you need to know, it will make the paper or the news.  Otherwise, go about you business and if you feel the need…speak the rights.

Danny Johnson