Ask anyone who is the first person they think of when asked who's job it is to risk their life for you and the answer is a Policeman. Not very many people would answer a Fireman but if you look at the big picture take all the Cops in Canada and and how many of them have had a gun pointed at them or have been shot at in a year and the numbers are very low overall and some officers have never had to use and or pull their gun in their entire time on the job. Fireman on the other hand constantly are in the line of fire so to speak. They get a call to a motor vehicle accident (MVA) and get there and there is a car on fire they pull the hose and run over to put it out. There could be a gas line leak they can't see and the gas tank explodes and could burn or kill the fireman and has. They get a call to your house on fire, They face when they get there Back drafts, Flash-overs and small explosions from paint cans or other stuff you have stored in your house. They have never been in your house and don't know the layout and were the furniture is. A lot of people nowadays have battery back ups for power outages which means even if the power had been shut of to the building the power cords and extension cords are still live and may have their plastic melted of and in a search of your house with zero visibility they could run into or touch an exposed wire with a water hose in their other hand. If none of that is enough they run the risk of having a collapse of part or all of the building on top of them or be trapped inside and may have their source of water cut off. There are more Fireman hurt daily on the job in Canada than Police officers in a week and a lot of these people are volunteers who aren't paid. Fires are a very small part of being a fireman there's search & rescue, From mountain tops to lake shore there always there when you need them.
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