When you're a volunteer firefighter, part of the deal is serving all members of the community, even the ones you'd like to rather forcefully tell: "Get off my planet."

Area volunteer firefighters stay busy. As evidence, look no further than recent issues of the Southern Sentinel.

With March and its tinder-drying winds here, if your business is firefighting, business may soon be better than you want...

In your mind, imagine a volunteer firefighter – think of the friend or neighbor of your choice. He or she is bone-weary, exhausted.

He and his mates, or perhaps she and her mates, have returned from fighting another field fire caused after some lame-fool's outdoor fire got away from him.

The firestarter went home hours ago, thinking he'd put his fire out. He was wrong. A single spark survived. Fed by the wind, it heated, grew bigger, went airborne, blew onto dry grass of a neighboring field. The spark grew into a small flame, then a larger one, feeding on dry tinder the way a drunk feeds off free liquor. Finally, moving at the speed a horse canters, the roaring 6 ft. high flames made a cavalry charge into the sagegrass, and the battle was on.

The result was another needless fire. Firefighters were lucky this time. They got to the scene in time to arouse sleeping occupants of a house in the path of the fire, then soak down the house to save it from the flames.

That was hours ago. In the interim, the fire was fought, put out, and firemen returned to station. The trucks have been washed, the gear cleaned and put up, the hoses re-folded and placed aboard the truck, and the firefighter is about ready to go home.

Through a window, the fireman sees the moon -- a silver light shining through a tear in black velvet. It is 3 a.m.

Resting for a moment, dusty boots up on a desktop, he falls into an exhausted sleep. He begins to dream...

In his dream, he is in a courtroom, listening to a judge. The judge is about to sentence the man who burned the trash which triggered the fire the firefighter went to earlier that day.

In his dream, there is a penalty for setting outdoor fires in defiance of the law.

The firestarter has not only broken the law, but violated major rules of common sense and concern for his friends and neighbors as well. His lack of concern has caused his neighbors problems; it is the dark side of living in an interconnected world. It's a small world, sometimes too small.

To the firestarter, the phrases "good neighbor" and "common sense" are just words in a dictionary.

It's a free country, after all, and he has rights too, he thinks. It's my property, he thinks, and besides, that fire won't get away from me. That just happens to other people.

The judge, who always has an eye toward re-election, has other ideas.

The man is guilty of a criminal lack of concern that makes him a lousy neighbor, causes unnecessary hot risky dangerous work on the part of firefighters, and costs the fire department the time and money to respond to a fire he illegally caused.

The judge sentences the man to a fine large enough to get his attention, and adds the costs of the department responding to the fire. The judge also adds an additional punishment.

"I sentence you to community service. Every time this fire department is called out for the next week, you must go with them.

"You will go with them any hour of the day or night, whenever they are called.

"You will perform the most grueling work with them. You will beat out fires with brush beaters, haul heavy water-filled hoses, feel the smoke blind your eyes with tears, feel the sparks from the fire burn your skin, feel the heat singe your flesh.

"You will wear a helmet, full canvas turnout gear, and heavy rubber boots, in 80 degree days, a few feet from flames which may be taller than you are.

"Afterward, you will help clean up at the fire station. You will lose the same time off from your job that firefighters lose from theirs.

"You will not leave the station after a fire until the last firefighter leaves.

"If you are physically unable to perform these duties, you need to have proof of that from a doctor's excuse. In which case, you will be placed in jail, there to work out your fine and restitution at the rate of $5 per day. I will not allow you to escape this sentence by appearing to be too sick to work, but well enough to loaf.

"And should you disobey my orders, instead of serving the first-place award of one week's punishment, you'll receive the second place award. Second place, of course, is two weeks duty with the fire department.

"And if you fail that, I will have you put in jail and, six of the stoutest firemen placed in your cell with you. Each will have a hoe handle, and the jailer will develop a sudden case of deafness for the next five minutes.

"And when the lead fireman calls out "hoe, hoe, hoe," he will not be quoting Santa Claus..."

The firefighter awakes with a start. The fire bell is clanging insistently. He moves groggily toward a truck, running on instinct and muscle memories as he slowly comes to consciousness.

He knows he will not see home or his comfortable bed again for hours to come.