International Firefighters’ Day

International Firefighters’ Day, Saturday, May 4, is a way to say thank you to the world’s firefighters for all that they do to keep our communities safe.

Firefighters make a career out of helping people. They sign on to work long shifts, put their lives on the line, train constantly, and, in many cases, live away from home for long stretches of time while they man the station.

They are willing to jump out of bed at a moment’s notice to gear up and rush into the unknown to help anyone in need. They enter burning buildings, work alongside busy highways, and dive into swift-flowing floodwaters.

There is no doubt a romantic notion of firefighting, but something that many don’t see is the countless hours of training, the long nights in the firehouse, the constant equipment maintenance, and all the other routine work that goes into operating a successful department.

Last year alone, the Monett Fire Department’s 20 firefighters responded to more than 1,034 calls for service, including 967 calls within Monett proper, and 67 mutual aid calls from other departments or auto incidents outside of town.

Last year five local firefighters were certified in confined space rescue thanks to a class hosted by BCP Ingredients in Verona, two personnel were certified in Swift Water Rescue and Boat Operations thanks to a training hosted by the Missouri Department of Conservation, three went through Firefighter 1 and Firefighter 2 academies and the department in total spent more than 3,200 hours of training that includes daily shift training, online classes, and monthly department training.

All of us at the City of Monett would like to express a sincere “Thank You” to everyone at the Fire Department for their care, dedication, and bravery in their daily duties. You all work long hours in the dead of night, in blistering heat, and freezing cold to keep us safe and we all owe each of you a debt of gratitude.