For a sports writer like myself life is usually full of fun and games.
After all, it's my job to show up and watch everything from football to basketball, cross country to baseball.
That makes for a pleasant day at the office for me most nights.
Not all jobs are quite as much fun as mine, and there are times however, when even the news just isn't quite so much fun.
Last Friday night I was on my home from work after covering the Caldwell and Barnesville football game when circumstances put me on the scene of a car crash on Ohio 550 less than two miles from my house.
As I pulled up to the scene I rolled down my window and talked to members of the Barlow Township Volunteer Fire Department, a few of whom I knew, who told me a little bit about the situation.
I proceeded to find myself spending the next few hours on scene, watching the Ohio Highway Patrol investigate before filing away a quick story in the early morning hours.
That's not a scene that anybody really enjoys being at, but there at 3 o'clock in the morning, were more than a dozen men and women who volunteered their time to try and save the life of a young man.
An accident that occurred at roughly 2:10 a.m. had 18 members of the Barlow Township Volunteer Fire Department and five from Dunham Township on scene within just five minutes.
While the victim, a 20-year-old from Canton, had already passed away the commitment those men and women displayed in getting to the scene and trying to save a life is more than commendable.
And it's not just late at night that the men and women who serve as volunteer firefighters and paramedics display that commitment.
I remember last year I was down at Little Hocking Elementary School playing softball with my family and several members of the Little Hocking department.
I was at my usual spot at third base while Clay Clatterbuck, a volunteer for Little Hocking, was out in left field.
A shallow pop-up was hit into the outfield about the same time that the pagers went off, calling for a squad run.
Clay simply ran in on the ball, made a diving catch, hopped to his feet and flipped me the ball before proceeding to sprint to his truck to go on the run, all without missing a step.
That's the kind of people who, by and large, make up the volunteer forces at our local fire departments.
They're people who care about their community and answer our cry for help no matter when it comes in or what they're doing at the time.
As I stood there on the scene of that accident Friday night waiting for the road to get cleared and the patrol to make a preliminary investigation the members of the Barlow fire department offered me coffee and donuts and helped pass the time trading stories.
They even delivered the weekend edition of The Marietta Times to a subscriber's box next to the accident when our delivery driver couldn't get through, prompting more than a few jokes and laughs in my direction.
Though we all hope never to need their services, it's a comfort knowing that there are people like them waiting to answer the call at all hours of the day, and make life a little easier for the people who find themselves on scene.
Kevin Pierson is a sports writer for The Marietta Times. He can be reached at kpierson@mariettatimes.com or by calling 376-5440.
