From the outside, a firehouse looks like a job site. Big doors. Big trucks. Alarms that cut through the air without warning. Shift schedules pinned to the wall.

We say it at award ceremonies, after disasters, in headlines, and on social media posts filled with gratitude and flags. From the outside, the word feels obvious.

We have all seen the heroic first responder in movies—courageous, calm in the face of danger, able to tackle any emergency without hesitation.