Happy New Year to all residents on the mountain. We trust your holidays went well and you were able to enjoy some festivities despite the ongoing situation in which we all find ourselves. Hopefully a vaccine for COVID-19 will soon be available, and we can get back to some type of normalcy.
For us at WRES, it was a rather disappointing December. We were not able to run the Santa Train as we normally do. This is an event that we always look forward to in December, when we drive through the neighborhoods with lights flashing, sirens blaring and Santa Claus on the back of a truck. There is nothing like seeing kids run out of the house towards the truck parade, with eyes wide open in excitement to give Santa Claus a hug.
We were also unable to host our annual holiday banquet. Each December, our board of directors puts together a banquet as a thank you to every volunteer at WRES. There is a buffet, live music, dancing and all sorts of merriment. This is also the event where we recognize some members for their efforts over the past year by giving out awards. We usually hold this at the Signal Mountain Golf and Country Club, but our attendance is greater than the capacity presently allowed at the club. So, we decided to issue our awards in an online fashion. We will post award winners on our Facebook page and provide a complete listing in next month’s Mirror report.
For those of you who have sent in your donation from our mailed-out request, a hearty thank you! These generous donations from those we serve keep us in operations from year to year. Where does your money go? First and foremost, know that the largest expense we have every year is for insurance. You can imagine that our liability insurance is pretty hefty, given the nature of what we do here at WRES. Equipment, maintenance and training take the balance of your donations - just our daily operations. Just to outfit a volunteer with turnout gear, boots, gloves, helmet and breathing apparatus can cost over $6,500 per person! We have to have hoses, axes and other tools for our trucks. We also purchase a lot of expendable safety supplies like gloves and masks to protect our members on medical calls. And just like any other facility, we have water bills, electric bills and phone bills to pay every month. It all adds up, and we appreciate the support!
As we are now in the open burning and winter season, most of our calls right now are for grass fires and chimney fires. So, if you are burning brush or plan to later in the spring, please obtain a burn permit and adhere to the rules for open burning. It is also a good idea to leave us a message that you will be burning so we don’t show up with a truck and a crew when someone driving down the street calls to report a fire. Yes, it does happen. Also, be sure your space heaters are not placed near your drapery or furniture, as this is a common cause of house fires this time of year. We want you to be warm and comfortable in your home, but also mindful of safety.
This is also the time of year that we ask for volunteers to come and join our organization. Know that as an operating emergency service, we need all types of help - not just with fighting fires. We keep track of reports and do a lot of our own maintenance on trucks and equipment to keep everything in good working order. We have IT needs for cloud computing and internal servers to monitor our equipment. So, yes, we always need more firefighters and medical response volunteers, and we encourage you to consider donating your time, but we also have other volunteer opportunities if you would like to help.
You can always call us at Station One at (423) 886-5974 and leave a message. You can direct message us on our Facebook page at Waldens Ridge Emergency Service. However, if you have an emergency, or even think you may need some help, do not hesitate to call 911 for immediate assistance and the fastest response.
by Jay Heavilon
For us at WRES, it was a rather disappointing December. We were not able to run the Santa Train as we normally do. This is an event that we always look forward to in December, when we drive through the neighborhoods with lights flashing, sirens blaring and Santa Claus on the back of a truck. There is nothing like seeing kids run out of the house towards the truck parade, with eyes wide open in excitement to give Santa Claus a hug.
We were also unable to host our annual holiday banquet. Each December, our board of directors puts together a banquet as a thank you to every volunteer at WRES. There is a buffet, live music, dancing and all sorts of merriment. This is also the event where we recognize some members for their efforts over the past year by giving out awards. We usually hold this at the Signal Mountain Golf and Country Club, but our attendance is greater than the capacity presently allowed at the club. So, we decided to issue our awards in an online fashion. We will post award winners on our Facebook page and provide a complete listing in next month’s Mirror report.
For those of you who have sent in your donation from our mailed-out request, a hearty thank you! These generous donations from those we serve keep us in operations from year to year. Where does your money go? First and foremost, know that the largest expense we have every year is for insurance. You can imagine that our liability insurance is pretty hefty, given the nature of what we do here at WRES. Equipment, maintenance and training take the balance of your donations - just our daily operations. Just to outfit a volunteer with turnout gear, boots, gloves, helmet and breathing apparatus can cost over $6,500 per person! We have to have hoses, axes and other tools for our trucks. We also purchase a lot of expendable safety supplies like gloves and masks to protect our members on medical calls. And just like any other facility, we have water bills, electric bills and phone bills to pay every month. It all adds up, and we appreciate the support!
As we are now in the open burning and winter season, most of our calls right now are for grass fires and chimney fires. So, if you are burning brush or plan to later in the spring, please obtain a burn permit and adhere to the rules for open burning. It is also a good idea to leave us a message that you will be burning so we don’t show up with a truck and a crew when someone driving down the street calls to report a fire. Yes, it does happen. Also, be sure your space heaters are not placed near your drapery or furniture, as this is a common cause of house fires this time of year. We want you to be warm and comfortable in your home, but also mindful of safety.
This is also the time of year that we ask for volunteers to come and join our organization. Know that as an operating emergency service, we need all types of help - not just with fighting fires. We keep track of reports and do a lot of our own maintenance on trucks and equipment to keep everything in good working order. We have IT needs for cloud computing and internal servers to monitor our equipment. So, yes, we always need more firefighters and medical response volunteers, and we encourage you to consider donating your time, but we also have other volunteer opportunities if you would like to help.
You can always call us at Station One at (423) 886-5974 and leave a message. You can direct message us on our Facebook page at Waldens Ridge Emergency Service. However, if you have an emergency, or even think you may need some help, do not hesitate to call 911 for immediate assistance and the fastest response.
by Jay Heavilon
RSS Feed