My days at the office are often accompanied by the fluctuating volumes of crackling from the scanners on my desk, threatening to change the course of my day at any moment.

I have heard many interesting and heart, breaking situations come from the voices on that scanner varying from car accidents to overdoses, house fires to illegal burns and gas leaks to a man being stuck 80 feet in the air.

Hearing those things coming from the scanner gives me a new appreciation for what first responders go through on a daily basis, especially firefighters. For them, it’s not all putting out fires and saving kittens from trees. They do a little bit of everything. They assist in removing victims of accidents and incidents by using extrication and rescue procedures, they assist in natural disasters, they provide help with overdose cases and a big part of what they do is educating the public on fire prevention and reducing the loss of life and property by fire.

The Jessamine County Fire District offers free home safety surveys, where firefighters visit your home to perform a walk through with you while providing fire prevention tips and assistance in creating an emergency evacuation plan.

To set one up, community members can contact Assistant Chief Gerald Wheeler Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Jessamine Fire District Station #1 by phone at  859-885-9221, or email gwheeler@jessaminefire.com. The fire district also offers a Residential Smoke Detector Program, in which they install residential smoke detectors in the fire district free of charge. Those interested in participating in the program can contact Gina at the Nicholasville Fire Department at 859-885-5505.

The reason firefighters are on my mind so much recently is because my younger brother just completed his training to be a volunteer firefighter in Clay City. I am in awe at the fact that there are people so selfless out there that are willing to run into dangerous situations every day to save someone else and to think that some of them are doing it on their own free time.

I must admit, I feel a bit of pride and fear when I see him wearing that volunteer firefighter T-shirt.

I just wanted to take a second to thank all the first responders in Jessamine County and in the world for sacrificing time with their families and doing what they do.