All in by Melissa Lowell

It’s December in New England, so cold your extremities are numb instantly. I’m sitting in a parked car at the site of a recent five-alarm fire. Six firefighters are missing, dead. The leader turns to me, “These firefighters are tired and devastated. Our only job is to offer a hot cup of coffee and a listening ear if they need it” he says wearily. I wonder how many hours he’s been here, what he has seen…