Silent Grief in the Fire Service

As both a fire wife and a therapist who works closely with first responders, this subject is deeply personal to me. When most people think of grief in the fire service, their minds immediately go to the tragedy of a line-of-duty death. While that loss is real and devastating, there’s another kind of grief that quietly builds in the lives of firefighters and their families… grief that isn’t always visible or even named. I call it silent grief, and it often shows up in the spaces between shifts, milestones, and family moments that are quietly missed.