Firefighters dedicate themselves to saving homes, businesses, and most importantly, the people in the communities they serve. An already difficult job gets even tougher when they're saving people from their home town.
Merrill Battalion Chief Steve Hintze always took pride in that fact. He served his hometown for 27 years. Tuesday, Hintze retired, but not before his coworkers could give him a send-off.
There was plenty of laughter to go around as the station held a sendoff gathering for Hintze. There were times over his career that going out on a call was a struggle.
"There was those days that when you came back to the station with your head down and you took some things that most people wouldn't want to deal with not only to the station but, back home," said Hintze.
There were plenty of good times to go around also.