Firefighter’s Helmet-Cam Video Gives First-Person View of Battling Fires

The saying goes that you cannot really know a person until you have walked a mile in his shoes. Well, how about seeing what it is like through his helmet camera? That's what one firefighter from Highland Park, Michigan, is hoping his eight-minute video, "2012, A Year on My Lid," will highlight for viewers.

Scott Ziegler put together this montage, accompanied by the song "Till I Collapse," by Eminem, and the footage includes a record of some of the routine tasks of a firefighter as well as incredible footage of the brave work of the Highland Park Fire Department fighting fires. Ziegler makes sure to clarify that none of the fires in the footage are training fires but are indeed real blazes that he and his team had to put out. The eight-minute video was posted to YouTube last week and has taken off: More than 720,000 people have viewed it.

Ziegler also points out how he and his comrades feel about their job: "We love doing our job in Highland Park. And we do it often."

He explains that he was motivated to create the eye-opening footage to "show people what it is like to fight fires, and what firefighters across the nation do every day. The more people who realize, the better it will be for our profession." Commenters on YouTube are embracing the video and expressing their appreciation for heroes like Ziegler -- writing, for example, "much respect for you guys. God bless ya'll."

[Related: Mountain Bike Star Captures Frightening Fall on Camera]

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