On Christmas Eve, a man set fire to the house he shared on Ontario Lake with his sister. He waited for the firefighters to arrive and then ambushed them. Two were killed and two more wounded. His sister was in the house, and died. He shot himself.

It’s hard to believe this kind of act can be perpetrated on people. It’s even harder to imagine he set a trap for firefighters so he could kill them. Unspeakable! Obscene! Irrevocable!

I’m trying to wrap my head around this because it happened in my home town. Because firefighters are SO unselfish and rush to fires to save others. Because I’ve written so many firefighter books and have an affinity to these wonderful heroes.

I guess all we can do is pray for the families, and hope for society to better itself. (He used the same gun the shooter in Connecticuit used.)

I’m writing this blog to pay homage to all those women and men who run into burning buildings and risk their lives every day for others.