By GAYLE FRATTO
SVFD Asst. Chief
One goal we have for our monthly articles is to educate the public on aspects of fire department operations. Recently, one of our citizens inquired concerning the reason that we run our lights and siren during the middle of the night. It’s a fair question, and one that I’m sure a lot of people have asked themselves.
Laws require that we run lights and siren while responding to emergencies. If we respond to an “emergency” type call, public safety is paramount – not only for those who may be injured, but those who may be on the road at the same time. Our lights and siren allow those people to see us and yield the right of way so that we can get to those in need in a timely and safe manner.
Having said that, there are many service related calls that we would not classify as an “emergency”. In those instances, we will not run lights and siren. We will respond while driving with the normal flow of traffic. There are many instances, while you are sleeping, that you would never know we are driving by in response to a call. In summary, we run our lights and siren for our safety, the safety of those on the road and the safety of those we are responding to help.
It is that time of year that SVFD would like to remind everyone that March 1st through May 31st is classified as Forest Fire Season. No burning can take place between the hours of 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. When burning does take place during allowed hours, all combustible material must be removed within 10 ft of the fire. If you would like more information on Forest Fire Season, please visit http://www.wvforestry.com/firelaws.cfm. You can also visit us at www.facebook.com/ShinnstonFire.
On a final note, we would like to recognize our top 10 responders for 2016. They are as follows:
Dustin Smith
Mark Jeffries
Matt Bartlett, Lieutenant
Dylan Oliveto, Chief
Andrew Hardy
Andrew Burns
Ryan Cottrell
Gayle Fratto, Assistant Chief
Derek McIntyre, Deputy Chief
Chuck Blake
Thank you for your support of the Shinnston Fire Department.