In a letter to the editor, a Jersey City family expresses gratitude for the fire department saving their home during a massive blaze last month.
Dear Editor,
Please help us express our gratitude to the Jersey City firefighters’ for their incredible efforts in saving the homes on Center St and Bright St during the Colgate St. fire on Friday, August 3.
What they have done… is something that I, my husband and my children will never forget. Just as we will never forget the sight of people running head on into an exploding killer flame that was rising stories high above our houses and spitting balls of fire onto our roofs.
They fought that monster blaze and defeated it right in front of our eyes. They truly are our heroes, in every sense of the word.
My husband and I are first generation immigrants in this country. For both of us it has been a long journey before we were allowed to plant real roots. We have known poverty, violence and fear, and we are no strangers to having nothing and starting from scratch.
Yet by saving our home, the firefighters saved so much more than just a physical structure filled with possessions. They saved a huge part of us; the life we spent decades building, our children’s safety, our identity, and in a way – our American dream.
And while we may still have a hard time falling asleep, with memories of fire preying on the mind, our waking moments are filled with relief and gratitude for what the brave men and women of the Jersey City Fire Department have done for us.
We extend our heartfelt thanks for their bravery, dedication, relentlessness, and for the incredible strategy and ingenuity that JCFD applies when saving lives and homes.
After seeing it with our own eyes, we will never fail to appreciate the work that fire fighters do and the sacrifices they make. They have shown our children what true heroism is.
Natalia, Boris, Benjamin and Barbara Ioffe
Jersey City residents
