Posted by: Executive Producer, Julie Fike

I know firefighters are reluctant to be called heroes but I'm going to use that label anyway. I, along with John and Tierney attended the 8th Annual OKC Firefighter Award Banquet, Saturday night.

We heard amazing stories that we, news people, didn't even know about. We heard the selfless acts of these men and women. Imagine a hotel ballroom filled with firefighters and their families, getting touched by a story where a firefighter who, by himself, saved an elderly man from a fire. Or another firefighter who took it upon himself to start a smoke detector program in a school district where four children had died in a house fire.

John and Tierney were Masters of Ceremony and brought some lighter moments to the more emotional ones. Like busting out two lawyers who were sitting at our table and telling everyone their thoughts on the Anna Nicole Smith burial hearing and the wacky judge. John didn't think the joke went over. He said he thought he heard crickets chirping but I was there laughing. They always crack me up. But trust me, the lawyers got their digs in as well. Like giving me a jibe about covering every house fire in the metro. They wondered why it was news. After the awards, I told them because of stories like that!

Take today for instance. A double house fire on the Northwest side and despite trying to save the houses and lives, they saved a wedding dress!

Keep up the good work OKCFD, we love you at KOCO.
Julie