Firefighters Stay Behind To Babysit After Responding To Medical Call

Firefighter reads to a little girl until her mom comes home

Firefighters go above and beyond the call of duty every single day, but now they’ve gone and added “expert babysitters” to their list of accomplishments. How much do we pay firefighters? You don’t have to tell us because the answer will always be: “Not enough.”

Over the weekend, members of the Roseville Fire Department in Roseville, California, responded to an emergency medical call. A dad was home with his two kids when one needed to be transported to the hospital by ambulance. The children’s mother was away from the house at the time, so the crew of Engine 5 decided to stay home with one of the kids until her mother returned, allowing the father to accompany the other child on a probably scary ambulance ride to the hospital.

Reading Robert Lopshire’s Put Me in the Zoo (and doing an excellent job, we might add) is Engineer Burns.

This is another example of how firefighters do so much more than fight fires (although that alone is a pretty big thing and we’re very grateful for it) — they go out of their way every day to serve their communities.

Instead of forcing this little girl to ride in an ambulance with her dad and ailing sibling — an experience that would have possibly been terrifying for her — Engine 5 took her under their wing so she could stay at home and calmly hear stories until her mom arrived. This also removed some of the stress from her poor parents, who must have already been out of their minds with worry about their other child.

People can’t help but be touched by this sweet gesture. Commenters on the department’s Facebook page praised Engineer Burns and his department for their work. “What would we do without them! Love all of our firefighters,” one wrote.

We want to quadruple down on the praise and thank this group of firefighters for going the extra mile to do the right thing. Sometimes, a hero battles blazes and saves people from burning buildings, while other times, a hero sits in a tiny chair next to a little girl and reads to her about a dog named Spot.