Categories

Most Popular

Five Elmore County Volunteer Fire Departments Come Together in Response to Lake Martin Fire

By Andrew Edwards

Staff Writer

The Kowaliga Volunteer Fire Department has been selflessly serving their community since 1978, risking their lives for minimal reward.

The 12-man roster consists entirely of local residents who want to serve their community, and on Monday afternoon, they had the opportunity to do so.

At 1:30 p.m. on March 29th, the KVFD responded to a call on Lake Martin about a fire that set a house ablaze. By the time the KVFD showed up, the primary house was completely engulfed, but the flames were spreading to surrounding homes – putting more people’s livelihoods at risk.

Luckily, there were no persons present in any of the homes at the time.

“Typically, the homes on the Lake are not occupied during the week, and you usually don’t see people in them until the weekend,” said KVFD Assistant Fire Chief, Thomas Johnson. “We received a call from the Elmore County Dispatch, and it’s believed that they were alerted by someone who was out on their boat at the time. So, if they hadn’t driven by, we’re not sure if anyone would have even known about it”.

Johnson said when volunteers arrived on the scene the initial home that caught fire was already lost, but that flames had spread to an adjacent house. Some brush in the area had also caught fire, putting a third home in jeopardy as well.

“We rushed to the scene as quickly as we could, and immediately noticed that the first house was engulfed. We saw that the second home was salvageable, so we used our efforts to cool it down,” Johnson said.

While the volunteers scrambled to quell the fire on the second home, others called for backup to help with the primary house.

“We don’t have enough hydrants in the area to maintain the necessary amount of water in our tankards,” Johnson said. “Luckily, our sister stations are always ready to provide manpower to us in case of need.”

Soon after calling for backup, Red Hill Fire Department, Windermere Fire Department, Santuck Fire Department, and Eclectic Fire Department all arrived on the scene, each with 2000-2500 water tankards.

“We’re blessed to have surrounding communities that are willing to go out of their way and support us like they do,” Johnson said.

After the five departments used their efforts, all fires were quelled – leaving Johnson with mixed feelings.

“I never like to see a home burn down like that, but it goes to show the need for volunteers in an area like this. If the KVFD had not existed, who knows what would have happened,” Johnson said.

The KVFD, which operates on six apparatuses, including two engines, two tankers, one brush truck, and one service truck, consists of 12 unpaid volunteers who serve their community whenever they are available.

“There’s no shifts here. It’s all about who shows up, when they can show up. Typically, we have about 75 calls a year, and there’s always people on this roster that step up to the plate and answer the call,” Johnson said.

“Out of all of these guys, not a single one does anything for a pat on the back. We are all doing this because we saw the need for it in the community, and we want to protect our neighbors and loved ones”.