May 24 was a drastic change for families of the fire in Auburn.

I was awakened to not only the noise of the sirens but the smell of smoke as it came through my open window.

The Auburn Fire Department arrived and did a real fine job, as did the other fire departments from Mechanic Falls and Minot and, of course, our friends across the way: the Lewiston Fire Department.

These people who risk their lives while at fires like this one are to be thanked and commended for their dedicated work.

The Auburn police did a fine job keeping people back in a safety zone so no people would get injured.

We must remember to look at our fire and police departments a little differently from this time forward. They might get a little defensive at first as they are not usually thanked.

It is sad to think that the only time we get to know and see our neighbors is at a time of fire. We need to be more neighborly, less afraid of each other.

Sometimes, through tragedy, comes a renewing into the human spirit of the temporary state we are all in on this great blue marble we call home.

I’ll step down off my soap box now and I hope that this neighborhood will maybe have a new sense of caring that will go on for a long time.

John Bean, Auburn