Firefighters are no strangers to uncommon situations in their work, but the crew of Engine 3 in Harrisburg, NC were still surprisingly cool under pressure when they found themselves in charge of 2 local children. When they boys' parents both needed to be transported to the hospital after their father had a medical emergency, the firefighters said taking care of the kids while they waited for their grandparents to come get them just seemed like the natural thing to do.
None of the crew of Engine 3 have children of their own but they make an effort to improve their community, especially for its younger residents. Last September the crew threw a birthday party for a young boy named Jackson whose friends had cancelled on his party.
Firefighter Lee Dewitt described Jackson's party and the community's reaction:
"It really became a much bigger deal than we expected because it wasn't something that was a big deal to us. We were just there to take care of Jackson and help him have a good day and everybody in the whole community really appreciated it."
The crew of Engine 3 responded to a medical emergency call, firefighter Chris Carter described the situation to Fox46:
"We were dispatched for a medical call and [when we] got there the patient needed to be transported along with his wife, so both parents had to leave with two children in the house."
Dewitt described what they were thinking that night:
"We all knew what needed to be done. So, we needed to get the family the medical help they needed right away and it just became natural that we were all ready to just take care of the kids until grandma and grandpa were able to get there and take over."
The boys' grandparents were over 45 minutes away though, in a different county, so the men took turns spending time with the boys, 1 and 7 years old, to keep them entertained.
"We played hot wheels with the 7-year-old and Cooter took him outside and around the block. Walked the little boy pushed him in his little car and kept him occupied."
People on Facebook, where the fire department shared the story with photos, were quick to thank the firefighters for stepping up and caring for the boys.
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These firemen really went above and beyond what most people would consider their job, but for many firefighters the job is whatever needs to be done to keep people safe.
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