When an employee at Birdsong Peanut Co. fell into a peanut storage silo Thursday morning, we are sure many questions raced through his mind.

“Am I hurt?”

“What about my family?”

“How am I going to get out of here?”

But thanks to consistent and thorough training on the part of Suffolk Fire & Rescue, the victim was not hurt, didn’t have to worry about his family and very quickly “got out of here.”

A little more than an hour after the terrifying fall, members of Suffolk Fire & Rescue pulled the man to safety, a procedure they have trained for and trained for, thankfully, on those same silos.

What the members of Suffolk Fire & Rescue were able to pull off Thursday was incredible. And it is the same each and every time they respond to a call. A man fell dozens of feet into a silo and yet was rescued just over an hour later without injuries. Incredible.

At times, we mumble under our breath at the sight of a fire truck or rescue vehicle racing down the street. We sometimes think to ourselves, “I hope this doesn’t tie up traffic. I’ve got to get somewhere.”

What we forget is that when a call goes out, fire and rescue may know the where and the what, but they have no idea just how bad the situation is or the people involved.

They must respond to every call as if it is the worst-case scenario, just in case it is.

Fortunately, Thursday’s accident was not the worst-case scenario, but the response by Suffolk’s Fire & Rescue was still nothing less than spectacular.

These men and women not only bring with them to every call some of the finest equipment, but they also bring with them the training, know-how and dedication needed in a community hero.