What do we provide..?
What Do We Provide..?
Fire Prevention and Home Safety month. “Charge into Fire Safety™: Lithium-Ion Batteries in Your Home,” is the slogan for this year.
You might be amazed at how many lithium-ion batteries you have in your home. They might have a longer shelf life, even up to ten years in a smoke detector. But, remember, keep testing them. If they get used a few times from an accidental smoked supper, they might run low before the 10-year life of the detector.
When those batteries from your drill, leaf blower, other tools finally stop taking a charge. Check with your recycle center to see if they can take them. A local hardware store or construction equipment store may have a drop off to safely dispose of them.
I was at a national committee meeting a while back, when the question was posed, “Are there fire departments that don’t respond to structure fires?” And several of us indicated, yes. Sort of.
We explained the existence of small, isolated, sparsely populated areas that may be primarily wildfire and rescue response. If there is a structure fire, yes, they may still respond, but with limited capability. And due to distance away, it might only be exposure protection and keeping the fire from turning into a wildfire.
Which leads me to these questions for your department. What does your department provide? Do the people know your capabilities?
In our rural parts of the country, a vast majority of our fire is wildfires. Yes, grass and field fires are wildfires. We train and equip ourselves for what we are most likely to be dealing with.
As one individual has pointed out, we may not all need a structural pumper and structural firefighting gear. But we all have roads, cars, and crashes. Knowing how to do vehicle extrication and basic medical care is just as important.
Do you need all the expensive equipment to do vehicle rescue? No. But knowing how to cut or spread apart a vehicle with a sawzall, handi-man jack, and chains may be just a useful.
Have you ever had a cattle trailer flipped on the side? Full or empty?
If your coverage area has a busy highway or interstate, you may run more calls than some fulltime stations.
No matter where you are, what you have, or what size of department you are, the people in need are calling for your help. We owe it to them to provide the best help we can.
Fall Fire Conference in Spearfish on 10-12 October will have two gentlemen that understand volunteer department challenges. Check the SDFA Events website to register.
The annual Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service will be held at the Fall Conference in Spearfish this year. In 2026, the service will be at the Memorial site in Pierre when we add the name of Murdo Firefighter Nick Van Dam to the monument.
Have a happy and fun Halloween.
Stay safe,
Charlie Kludt
SDFA President