Fighting Fires

For ten years, I served on the Navajo New Mexico volunteer fire department. I had never had any desire to be a fireman, and did not enjoy the job, but nobody else seemed willing to do it. In order to learn as much as possible about the job, I took a fire fighter training course through Northland Pioneer College and attended numerous state sponsored firefighting programs. Every program stressed that the primary objective was saving lives, whether occupants of the building, bystanders, or firefighting personnel. Buildings can be rebuilt, people can’t.

The Arizona State Flammable Liquids and Gases Fire School was devoted to extinguishing fires in special situations. Even there the Emphasis was on protecting life, With great emphasis on testing and using safety gear, planning a safe approach and path of retreat, evacuating potential victims, and emergency first aid, before we practiced the actual firefighting techniques. It is essential that the fireman be aware of what is going on a round him at all times, to protect himself and others.

There are a great many similarities between the fireman’s job and the church‘s job. Our primary purpose is the saving people’s souls, not fixing the world’s problems. A couple of years before moving to Navajo, I saw a huge billow of smoke about a quarter of a mile from our house and hurried to the top of a nearby hill to see what was going on. A huge old house surrounded by trees was on fire, and even as I looked, a small fire truck from the local volunteer fire department arrived, so I stayed to watch.

The firemen immediately started their pump and began spraying water through one of the front windows, which pushed the flame out the back window and door. Within minutes, they ran out of water and the fire spread rapidly. A huge section of the back fell outward, surrounding the propane tank with burning lumber and igniting several nearby trees. Fortunately a second fire truck arrived, and one of the men with it walked around the house to assess the situation. He ordered the second truck to put out the flame around the propane tank to prevent an explosion that could have destroyed several nearby homes and killed the firemen. Next they checked the part of the house that was not involved, and rescued a small child. The first group of firemen had been so involved in putting out the fire they had not even checked to see if anyone was still inside. They endangered not only the child, but the entire neighborhood by losing sight of the primary objective.

Christians who get caught up in solving the worlds problems often forget about the souls of people. While it is necessary to help the people of Haiti with food and medicine, or to provide food and housing for homeless people, if we’re are not careful it is as if we saved the house but failed to get the people out in time.

We were called to fire on the old Red Lake road and checked the house to be sure everyone was out. We had the fire almost out and the ambulance had already left when a neighbor came from a nearby house and spoke to a policeman standing nearby. The neighbors had seen the fire and pulled the man out, taking him to their home. Assuming he was okay, they then came out to watch us fight the fire and the man died of smoke inhalation because he didn’t get the help he needed, though both we and the EMT’s had the equipment available to have saved his life.

Too often Christians are in such a hurry to get a profession and get back to what they are doing that they don’t take time to be sure the people they have tried to help have actually received the help they need. A major theme of the book of Hebrews is the people who have made a profession, been baptized and take an active part in the church, but have not been saved. They still die in their sin, because no one took the trouble to be sure they had received Christ.

When the Window Rock High School burned, a number of Fire Departments were involved in fighting the fire. One fireman from another department was apparently drunk and trying to impress everyone. Several times other firefighters had to convince him to stop his efforts and move to other areas because his actions endangered himself and others. He seemed totally unaware of the risks he was taking, or of what needed to be done. He became quite angry and made fun of the others lack of nerve because they would not help him. Finally, his fire chief had to assign another firefighter take him home.

Like the drunk fire fighter, some Christians are so convinced of their superiority that they begin to be angry with others who do not do exactly as they do, never realizing the harm they do to the cause of Christ both by their critical attitude toward others, and by their own counterproductive efforts to accomplish God‘s work.

Flames are the result of vaporized fuels mixing with oxygen and igniting. Fires can be extinguished by removing the source of ignition, stopping the fuel supply, or cutting off the oxygen supply. Cooling the fuel source with water can stop vaporization of solids and some liquids, eliminating the flame. In an partially enclosed space, spraying a fine mist into the flame can produce steam which forces out the oxygen and extinguishes the flame. Water will not cool natural gas or propane enough to stop vaporization, and they attain such pressures that attempts to cut of the oxygen supply are only temporary expedients. The flow of fuel must be stopped, by turning off a valve or stopping the leak.

At the Flammable Liquids and Gases school we were taught how to use our hoses to push the flame away so we could safely cap the leak or turn off a valve. Because of the pressures and flow needed, five men and two hoses with properly working nozzles are required. Two men do nothing but direct the spray from the nozzles. The force of the water requires their complete concentration to maintain accuracy. Two more men drag the hoses, and take the strain off the nozzle men. Because none of these men can see what is happening the fifth man stands between the nozzles, observing how the flame is pushed back and directing the nozzle men to maintain a consistent and effective curtain through which he can reach to shut off the valve or cap the leak.

On one of the teams, the center man was failed to keep a close enough watch on effect of the spray, and flame curled in behind the curtain, burning one of the men’s hair, eyebrows, and moustache even though they had full protective gear. After that, it was easy for the other teams to understand the importance of observing what was happening.

Just as it is essential that the nozzles be working properly to produce a spray capable of protecting the fire fighters, it is critical that the preaching be completely scriptural. Just as it is critical that the fifth man direct to nozzle men properly to protect them, it is critical that the word be applied in a proper place, which requires awareness as to what is going on, not just on what we are trying to accomplish, but in the surrounding area that may influence our actions. If we fail to observe and adjust properly we may well cause spiritual harm to others.