Last week a vicious fire tore through a house in the Trotters Walk subdivision. When the Newton County Fire Department arrived on the scene, they learned that someone was trapped in the house. Firemen Chris Calhoun and Justin McCord were part of a valiant attempt to rescue the trapped woman. Unfortunately, in spite of their gallant efforts, the crew could not reach Laverne Goodwin in time to save her life.

 Both Calhoun and McCord were badly burned in their heroic attempt and other firefighters on scene aided them and finished the job.

 We don’t know what causes men such as these to show no concern for themselves and who go above the call of duty to do what they do, but we are glad that they do and we are proud that we have this caliber of men serving in our local fire departments.

 All of our firefighters are heroes, and although they did not succeed in their attempt to save Ms. Godwin, they again proved that our local fire departments are surely the best trained and most courageous of any in the land.

 Please consider making a donation to the Georgia Firefighters Burn Foundation on behalf of Calhoun and McCord or the Newton County Fire Department. More information about GFBF can be found at http://www.gfbf.org/.