Viral Video Highlights Emotional Impact of Wildfires on Firefighter Families
NOVATO (CBS SF) -- All the fires across California this year has put a strain on firefighters and their families across the state.
The impact of firefighting work on families was captured in a video of Eliana Padron, 10, that her mom recorded recently. In the video, the young lady has no idea her firefighter father is about to walk through the front door. She squeals with excited joy when he steps into the room.
Before that moment, San Jose Firefighter Josh Padron has been deployed for more than a month. While the video of their touching reunion is special, it is not unique. Thousands of firefighters have been deployed for weeks. They sometimes work beyond cell coverage. Families never know for sure when their loved ones will return.
"You're going to leave your family to fend for themselves for at least 14 days, because we'll go anywhere from Southern California, up to the Plumas National Forest," Novato Fire Battalion Chief Jeffrey Whittet said. "We've been to Sonoma, Napa, really all over the place."
Even though firefighters watch out for each other's families, the strain and sometimes fear is constant back home.
"The added stress not knowing if they are in harm's way. What are they doing? Where are they because they haven't called me in a day or two," Chief Whittet said. "That all adds to the stress of the moment but, it also sweetens that reunion!"
Firefighter Padron says, "The whole month and a half I was gone quite a bit, and it impacted my family uh, a lot"
There's nothing more special than being welcomed home by your family, knowing you are safe. For example, after Pardron surprised his daughter Eliana, she exclaimed "I was so happy but, my heart just dropped cause I was so excited to see him!!"