Fire chaplains offer support to victims and emergency responders

There’s old saying about firefighters being the ones running into a building when everyone else is running out of it.  Emergency responders aren’t normal but they still have feelings.  Fire chaplains offer support on the scene and at the station.

Pastor Dave Van Laar of Crossroads Community Church has been a firefighter since the late 1960’s.  More recently he has been a fire chaplain with the Wenona Fire Department and a volunteer on the Magnolia Fire Department.

Van Laar says while firefighters and paramedics respond to the emergency, fire chaplains look after the people affected by the call including family members.  The work of the chaplain continues after the emergency is over and the crews have returned to the station .  Chaplains offer emotional and spiritual support to emergency responders.  He says he spends time around the station and can tell if someone is acting unusual.

Learn more about fire chaplains and the situations that emergency responders encounter by listening to an interview with Van Laar that’s available at the WLPO AM and FM news page.