SCARE: We were sitting at our computers, working on stories for today’s Era when that noise no one wants to hear started — the screech of the smoke alarm.

We didn’t see anything, we didn’t smell anything. But we certainly aren’t the experts.

A call to 9-1-1 brought the City of Bradford Fire and Police departments here within moments.

They rushed in as we stood by, outside or in neighboring businesses, waiting to hear the verdict. It wasn’t long before they told us it was all clear, the smoke alarm was faulty.

What a relief.

And what a moment of pure gratitude we experienced, filing back into the office, knowing there weren’t flames hiding inside a wall or ceiling of the historic building where we work.

We’ve had occasion this week to write about our City of Bradford Police Department and our McKean County Drug Task Force K-9 Unit. And now, we wanted to take a moment to say how lucky we are to have the men and women of the fire department nearby for instances like the one we had today.

First responders are the ones who run toward danger when others are fleeing. They’re the calm voices on the phone, directing you what to do in an emergency. They’re the ones getting out of bed in the middle of the night, in subzero temperatures to make sure their friends and neighbors are safe.

They’re the ones renumbering houses to make sure the ambulance or fire truck knows where to go. They’re the ones directing traffic around an accident.

They’re everywhere that citizens normally don’t want to be, and we owe them our gratitude.