01/04/04

What is the nature of treasure?

What is treasure to the average person? What items or objects inspire awe to each of us? I'm sure that there are as many answers as there are people.

Treasure to me is stories. If there is history to an object, then it has stories, and if some of those stories are known, then the treasure is just that much more precious.

Firefighters love fire-related artifacts. The equipment used and worn by our brothers gone before us holds a special magic for us.

You see, our equipment keeps us alive. Our equipment protects us and stays with us through thick and thin, it's comfortable and warm, and it stinks. (Okay, the stinking part isn't so magical, but it's a bear to wash and doesn't dry for goddamn near a week, so we wash it only when we recieve a direct order to do so) But I digress...

Yesterday one of my very closest friends dropped by my office. He used to be a member of my hall, but he got a full-time job as a Firefighter in Vancouver. It's been nearly five years since we fought together, and I still look for him and miss him when it's time to go inside. But we're still very close, so it was no surprise when he showed up grinning in my office with a bag in his hand and said "Have a look at this"

Inside was a very old Cairns leather fire helmet. It was in great shape, it was breathtaking.

When it came out of the bag, everyone in the office went silent. we stood there and looked at it for a few seconds without speaking, hardly breathing.
 

Here is a piece of our heritage. This collection of leather and brass is a defining object of just who each of us is. This helmet came from A Vancouver Firefighter who joined in 1917. He belonged to that department for many years. There is history and stories to every scrape and scratch on this helmet. It has been to places and events that are only dim history now, but then they were vivid, graphic and oh, so very alive. This helmet was in fires that we, today only hear about in legend. If you look closely at the front shield (The red part on the front) you will see a bare patch where the shield got bent when a falling beam struck the wearer. The metal lion on the top was damaged in the same incident. Think about it, there in front of us is proof that this piece of rigid leather did it's job.  We really admire things that do their job. Each and every one of us Firefighters are here for one purpose, to do our job. I look at that crease and I think to myself "Man! that took a hell of a whack! " It strikes me that, like myself, a guy just like me wore this helmet in the days long before self contained breathing apparatus protected his lungs, before Nomex fabric protected his body, when leather boots, leather helmets and rubberized fabric coats were all that stood between them and injury and death. Sometime, unrecorded and unimportant to history he fought a fire and took a deadly shot to the head. This very helmet saved his life.

After the initial intake of breath everyone in the office wanted to hold the helmet. It was passed reverently from man to man. Each one of us held it, felt it, and examined it closely for clues to other stories. Each of us found something and imagined the story of how the marks came to be there.

None of us tried it on. Why?

Simple. It was HIS helmet, whoever had owned it, not ours, and we had no right to wear it. None of my brother Firefighters would wear my helmet, and I wouldn't wear theirs, it's just not done. Intersting fact though, had a child been in the office with us, he would have been encouraged to try it on. Kids are always welcome to wear our helmets, but that's a whole other tradition.

The owner of it is long dead I'd expect. If he were alive he'd be more than 100 years old. But he's still with us in spirit, his helmet leaves testimony to hard battles, near misses, and fires fought. His helmet reminds us about our responsibilities to those who fought before us.

That helmet has history, it has stories, and to us it remains a priceless treasure.
 
 

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