Courage in the midst of disaster

I was trying to pick a subject for this week's column while sitting in front of the television when a news item was covered with video. The shocking pictures of brave men and women standing firm as they protected civilians were amazing, and the pictures made me proud to know that we are being protected by men and women who are willing to place themselves "in harm's way" in order to defeat the threats to our citizens.

I am not talking about our military. What I saw on the television was video of firefighters in California. Interviews with people who have fled the fires gave us vivid descriptions of people in vehicles surrounded by flames while the only road was jammed with vehicles trying to evacuate Paradise, California. The Weather Channel reported that 8,000 firefighters were fighting 400 square miles of wildfires as of Monday afternoon. There have been nearly 50 confirmed deaths and upward of 200 people missing from the areas of multiple fires. As fires approached, police were going door to door urging residents to evacuate. People in Paradise say they only had 5 minutes warning before the fire, driven by 50 mph winds, reached their homes.

It is said that when most people run from gunfire, soldiers and Marines run toward it. The same can be said of firefighters and police who run toward wildfires. Thankfully, courage is not in short supply in fire and police departments. Pray for the citizens whose homes and lives are threatened, and pray for those who are defending people and their property.

Jack Dragoni attended Boston College and served in the U.S. Army in Berlin and Vietnam. He lives in Chaffee, Missouri.