Fires are dangerous and most people do not know how to effectively combat them. Thankfully, we have firefighters to protect and save people’s lives, even if it means risking their own. Unfortunately, firefighters’ importance gets overlooked, they deserve credit for the sacrifices they make. Firemen die every day saving people from fires, they are the real heroes. 

Retired firefighter Freddie Raghunandan believes firefighting encourages a different point of view on life.

 “Firefighting changed my whole perspective on life, it made me feel as if my duty is to help others until the day I die,” said Raghunandan.

Firefighters work to keep people safe. Due to the high stress, their jobs affect them throughout their whole life even after they retire. 

Raghunandan believes that the risk is frightening, but the reward is high.  

“The scariest thing about being a fireman was knowing that there’s a high chance we could both die in the fire,” said Raghunandan. “But I enjoyed saving people from fires. It made me feel good, knowing that I saved a life.”

On average, firefighters in Jersey city make an average of $46,000 a year according to “ziprecruiter.com.” This amount pales in comparison to the New York average of $66,500 a year, according to “glassdoor.com.” The fact that they are paid such a low salary and there are still people training every day to become firefighters is enlightening. Firefighters fight for others lives while putting their own lives in danger and they do it out of the kindness of their hearts rather than for monetary gain.

Firefighters protect the public from danger that is otherwise impossible to fix. They do something that your average person could not do: protect the human race. By putting out fires, tending to wounds, and keeping people as safe as humanly possible, they put themselves in danger to help us. Firemen do this and they cannot make more than an accountant? This is unacceptable and needs to change, out of respect for our men and women in red.