Real Heroes have many different jobs. My oldest son is a Math Teacher, he is a hero. You may have read about him before, he is the co-developer and administrator of SemiWiki. Think about it, without math where would the world be today?
My other son is a Fireman, Emergency Medical Technician, and also a hero. He is at the Rim Fire in Northern California near Yosemite. You may have read about it being that it is one of the most devastating fires in the history of California.
I would say the best advice I gave to my sons was to choose a profession that you have a passion for because you will be doing it for the rest of your life. Growing up in a military family with five brothers my goal was to make lots of money and that took me to computers which has been my life long passion. Now I hold a super computer in my hand packed with semiconductors that I helped make and it allows me to track my heroes every day.
Today there are about 5,000 Fire Personnel on the Rim Fire which has burned more than 200,000 acres (300+ square miles), destroyed dozens of structures, and threatened thousands more. My son fights fires with a chainsaw and a crew with rakes and shovels. They hike for miles and clear breaks. At night they light back fires trying to predict where the fire will go and head it off.
How did my son become a fireman? Interesting story, from high school he went to the fire science program at the local college. In the summers he was on the Davis Fire Crew training to do what he is doing today. After graduating with a fire science degree and an EMT certification he went to paramedic school. From there he went to various part time Fire/EMT jobs and finally to Cal Fire. I have never seen a kid work so hard following his passion. He trains tirelessly and has stacks of certifications. Sometimes we don’t see him for weeks at a time but thanks to semiconductors we are in contact almost daily.
You can monitor the Rim fire on InciWeb.org, the Incident Information System. Mandatory evacuation orders are still in effect. After two weeks containment is at 35% with an expected 100% containment date of September 20[SUP]th[/SUP]. Right now my son is protecting a city that is in the line of fire and the people there are very grateful! These people are very lucky to be surrounded by heroes at a time like this.
31 August 2013
Acreage: 219,277
Largest fire in the United States to date in 2013·
No. 1-ranked on national firefighting priority list
Fifth largest fire in California history
States that have sent firefighters or other personnel: 41 and the District of Columbia
Cal Fire geographical units that have sent personnel: 20 of 21
Uncontrolled fire edge: 107.4 miles
Completed containment line: 66.1 miles
Completed dozer line: 139.9 miles Proposed dozer line: 30.3 miles
Completed hand line: 5 miles Road as completed line: 16.3 miles.
Acreage in Yosemite National Park: 60,185
Proportion of the fire burning in Yosemite National Park: 27.5 percent
Size of the fire area:
Pounds of firefighter laundry washed:
Burned or damaged trees adjacent to power lines removed by Pacific Gas and Electric:
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Next Generation of Systems Design at Siemens