Hyannis Firefighters want you to take a look at this RIVETING VIDEO!

HN NOTES:

My entire life I have closely observed our local Hyannis Firefighters out there day and night, putting their own lives on the line so we may keep ours.

I have observed lives saved on countless occasions – and I truly mean “countless!” — that’s no exaggeration.

I have also witnessed our firefighters enter fully involved burning buildings. And sadly, there was one occasion where I witnessed one of them get severely hurt while inside a commercial building engulfed with flames on the east side of Hyannis one cold winter night back in the mid-1980s. I was in police uniform that evening and vaguely remember asking a Hyannis Firefighter something like,

‘You guys are really going in there? People always say police work is dangerous, but I would rather have people shooting at me than go anywhere near that!’

I punctuated my thoughts by pointing toward the raging flames…

Not long after saying that, a brave Hyannis firefighter on the second floor of the engulfed Cape Cod Chrysler garage fell through the burning floor and was badly injured. He was down, having hit some furniture, alone, severely injured, and could not get up. One of his brother Hyannis Firefighters happened upon him and was miraculously able to get him help!

I will never forget the image of our firefighters carrying one of their brothers out of the blaze that evening. The firefighter had life-threatening injuries, but thankfully did manage to pull through… it turned out, however, to be a career ending injury for that one brave Hyannis Firefighter. These are the stories nobody reads about when we talk about firefighters and first responders in general…

Another Hyannis Firefighter also broke his ankle in that terrible fire…

As a child, the father of one of my best friends use to pile us all in the back of his Chevy pickup work truck, slap a red magnetic light on the roof, and rush toward the Hyannis Fire Department down South Street, beeping his horn to make our way and arrive just in the nick of time before jumping on an outgoing fire engine. In those days, HFD had a number of volunteer firefighters who amazingly dropped everything, which usually included hammers and other work tools, to answer the alarms.

The Hyannis fire station was very new and spacious in the 1970s. There was an old Cadillac ambulance that looked sort of like a beefed up station wagon. To a child, the brand new station was vast and vacant, full of echos as we ran around playing, waiting for my friend’s father to return from his call.

There was also a Dalmatian named Cinders who I used to mess around with and pet. Later, if I recall correctly, there was another Dalmatian who eventually became a little bit overweight as he grew older… the fire department was quickly growing day by day. Firefighters, sadly, had less and less time to walk and exercise their beloved mascot. And as rumor has it, some firefighters were known to sneak “CJ” the Hyannis Fire Dalmatian extra table scraps from time to time… It’s unfortunate the Hyannis Firefighters no longer have the down time, space, and resources to take care of an HFD Dalmatian. Because in the 1970s, the children of HyTown were fascinated with the idea of having a loveable fire dog running around the trucks parked inside of our amazingly modern brand new local fire station.

Jump forward to the present; we now have an outdated 1970s era firehouse jam-packed with 4 large ambulances, a heavy rescue, 3 fire engines, a ladder truck, a whaler, modern firefighting equipment of all types, racks with fire boots, helmets, and turnout gear… an area that once seemed modern, vast, and vacant is now uncomfortably “packed to the gills” (as one firefighter so aptly described it…).

It’s tight quarters which have even caused some firefighters to become ill.

Enough is enough. Our Hyannis Firefighters obviously not only need a new fire station, they deserve it!

These are the men and women who are there to help us in our worst most horrific times of illness and catastrophe. HN has not only witnessed our Hyannis Firefighters rise to the occasion time and time again, they have consistently done so in my entire lifespan… not once ever putting a single bad foot forward.

Hyannis Firefighter David Webb recently called asking to use some HN footage to put together a video he was working on. Webb did an incredible job editing and the Hyannis Firefighters would love for you take just a couple of minutes to view the following video.

Also, if you haven’t done so, please take a fraction of a second to “LIKE” and follow our Hyannis Firefighters on their developing Facebook page. You will not regret being directly connected with our friendly local firefighters. As they will do their best to protect us in HyTown, Cyberspace, and beyond!

(click one of the Hyannis Firefighters Facebook link buttons on this page...)

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