Tuesday, May 21, 2013

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Tough reality of being a firefighter
Posted: 01.05.2013 at 11:12 PM
Veronica Gallegos
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Charred remains are the only reminder that a home once stood on the corner lot of Gill Street and F.M. 490 in Hargill. 

A fire ripped through the mobile home last Sunday, killing three children.

Responding to a call like this is never easy for first responders. 

It’s a tough job mentally, physically and emotionally and not everyone can do it.

"What you have to understand is that firefighters range in age and experience and the amount of time they’ve been a firefighter, at that particular fire, we had firefighters that have been here close to 35 years but, we have some that have been here a year," Edinburg Assistant Fire Chief Uvaldo Perez said.

Perez said he's learned that having an open line of communication after a tragedy like this always helps.
 
"We definitely always provide professional help," Perez said.

It’s a matter of experience and training, Perez said.

Firefighters have to understand that things are going to happen. 

They have to go into each situation with the mentality of doing their job which is to save lives and protect property.

"All though there’s this tragedy here as long as this doesn't occur on a daily basis on a monthly basis and a yearly basis then there’s a lot of benefits of being a firefighter and there's a lot of great feelings of being a firefighter," Perez said.

Perez said the Hargill fire will always stick with him and the others who responded on that fateful Sunday but adds, since then they've responded to about 25 other fires.

Despite the emotions tied to that one fatal fire they have to pick up and move on.

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