Meet a Firefighter
As a child, Phillip McKee was a bookworm who spent a lot of time studying. Today, he works as a firefighter. He uses what he learned to help others.
Fighting Without Fear
After graduating from Yale University, McKee became a firefighter in Arlington, Virginia. On September 11, McKee and hundreds of other firefighters responded to an emergency at the Pentagon. The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States military. Terrorists had flown a plane into the building.
When the firefighters arrived at the Pentagon, they ran through billowing smoke into the building. “I've never seen a fire that big,” McKee said. “No one [in my fire company] had ever seen one like that. Nothing prepared us for that.”
In and Out
McKee and other firefighters spent several hours looking for people and putting out fires. “We kept going in and trying to cool things down, coming out every 45 minutes for new air bottles and a rest,” McKee said.
McKee told Weekly Reader® that none of the firefighters were worried about their own safety. “You become a firefighter to help other people,” he explained.
The First Fire
Becoming a firefighter isn't easy. Firefighters have to study hard. They learn math and science. They also learn how to put out fires.
“You have to do a lot of math in your head,” McKee said. “You have to calculate how much water you need to put out a fire. If you use too little, you can't put out the flames. If you use too much, the firefighters can't control the hose.”
In addition to learning a lot, McKee said firefighters have to have “a lot of heart.” People become firefighters because they want to help other people. They sometimes even raise money to help people after they put out a fire.
Repaying a Debt
A group of students is helping firefighters in New York City by repaying a 134-year-old debt.
The kids are from Columbia, South Carolina, and they have raised $447,265. The money will be used to buy a new fire truck for New York City.
The debt comes from 1867, when New York firefighters heard that Columbia was using buckets to fight fires. The New Yorkers decided to buy firefighting equipment for the town. A citizen of Columbia at the time promised that the town would help “should misfortune ever befall the Empire City [New York].”
A school principal in Columbia said recently, “These students have given a gift to the people of New York, but they have also given a gift to all of us.”