A 37-year-old volunteer fireman has an unsatisfying day job and a fragile marriage with his second wife. They are, however, constantly saved by the perils of his job. Whenever they seem to be in the middle of an argument, his is whisked away to help with a dangerous fire——the danger of which puts their arguments into perspective. When he returns from his fires, the two of them stay up late together and she listens as he tells her stories of what happened. They remember stories of the fires he has fought and various moments in their family life: the wife's perspective on their marriage, the fireman's relationship with his daughter from his first marriage, and the questions surrounding what would happen to them if there were no fires.