James too.

It was the middle of a summer night in 1999.

• College kids got careless
• Started a mattress on fire.
• Left the apartment with the mattress still smoking.

The fire grew and grew.

• In the bedroom directly under us - as we slept.
• Clueless to our impending fate.
• (The smoke detector didn’t go off in time.)

Banging on our door woke us.

• Sleepily I stumbled to the door.
• And was greeted with a wall of black smoke.
• We could not get out.

It was unreal.

• It didn’t feel like it was time to die.
• Yet the fire engulfed our bedroom.
• We moved to the 3rd floor balcony.

I called the fire department on the way out.

• No one else had called.
• Trucks were dispatched.
• I prayed they were fast enough.

The fire moved to the balcony side of the apartment.

• We were engulfed in smoke.
• Flames tickled below.
• Was this the end for us?

Long story shorter…

• The Ann Arbor Fire Department arrived in time.
• They got us off the balcony and saved our lives.
• We are eternally grateful to those brave men and women.

It’s budget time in Ann Arbor.

• They plan to cut 14 firefighters from the force.
• It’s easy to think of them as just a budget item.
• Especially if you’ve never been in a fire.

Less firefighters can have major impact.

• We are alive today because the city had ample coverage.
• Slower response times can make a difference.
• Of life and death.

There has to be another way.

• Besides cutting firefighters
• Not all departments are created equal.
• Ann Arbor is a creative city.

Safety is not a luxury - it’s a reason why city government exists.

Makes me think of chapter leaders…do you speak up when issues need your voice?

Originally posted @ Cynthia D'Amour on Leadership and Life