Fires, fears and wild rivers: A steady hand on the other side

By Sarah Leavenworth

The small pebbles I dislodged with each movement of my trembling hands plummeted, bouncing against the rock wall and striking the hard ground below. My aching limbs and the ropes and harness securing me as I climbed suddenly seemed to be outmatched protagonists in a battle with gravity.

Time seemed to freeze as I inched my way up the steep rock face. I touched the top of the cliff, then let go and swung over the rocks and swiftly-moving river below. Air flooded back into my lungs, each breath reinforcing the rewards of a fear surmounted. It seems fear is our brain's way of kick-starting our body into action, readying us to run, fight or otherwise respond to various situations.

For some - skydivers, bungie jumpers and the geniuses who run with the bulls - confronting danger is purely an adrenaline rush or a "natural high."

For others, like the firefighters and Search and Rescue members who serve Lake County, facing fear is occasionally nothing less than a matter of life or death.

As a reporter, I've learned to tune in to the scanner when the static gives way to a fire call or an accident report.

I grab my camera and notebook and head to the scene, always secure in the knowledge that I'll be capturing the action from a safe distance. A fire call is quite different, I imagine, for the men and women who know they won't be separated from the heat and smoke by a zoom lens.

I wonder where they derive the courage to climb into their cumbersome uniforms and boots, secure their masks and take each step forward.

I posed as a "victim" while covering a swift water rescue training session on the Clark Fork river last summer. Swallowing some air and a small phobia of my own, I plunged into the water and let the frothing current pull me under. SAR members swarmed around me, lifting me from the bitingly-cold water and pulling me to shore.

As I rung the freezing water from my clothes, I thought about how we all grow stronger on the other side of each terrifying situation we face.

It's nice to know there are courageous people in this community who, when confronted with potentially paralyzing fear, can be counted on to offer us steady hands.