South Boundary Fire Chief corrects statements made by fire victim

It is truly a shame when someone in our community loses a loved one or their home to fire

Most of us in the fire service truly care about what we do and are there to try and help make a difference.

All of the rural volunteer firefighters in this community, with the exception of myself, are totally volunteer with little or no compensation for what they do besides the thank you they might receive for helping someone in need.

It is unfortunate that I have to write this to defend what we do, in order for others to see we still have a value in our community.

The fire that Mr. Stevens wrote about in last week's paper did not happen in South Boundary's District; it was in an area that is covered by a subscription association.

We have a mutual aid agreement written with this group as well as with all of the other fire services in our county. Under the request of the fire department in charge, we responded to the scene with three pieces of equipment and nine personnel.

We arrived just shortly after the home department did and were requested to supply them with a couple of personnel for fire attack and to set up to supply them with water.

When we arrived on scene, the building was almost completely burned to the ground. We did all that we were requested to do ASAP.

We were told on scene that the fire department was not called for about 20 minutes while locals fought the fire. All of the three departments that responded felt that things went very well due to the extremely icy conditions and the delay in the call.

In fact, we all sat down at a later date to review the fire and came up with only a few points we could have improved upon due to the conditions.

It is always upsetting when we can't save a home. As a reminder, so this can be helped in the future, always call 911 immediately, then deal with the home after. It takes longer for volunteers to get to a home than it does for a staffed department.

Most homes are lost in the first 10 minutes. If you live in an area that is not tax-supported, please pay your membership dues to avoid a costly bill from the home department (It is my understanding from the home department in this case that neither home paid for fire protection.)

On behalf of all of the responders that worked hard on the fire, we are truly sorry for your loss.

Tony Rohrwasser

Fire Chief

South Boundary

Fire Protection District