Who ‘Ya Gonna Call?
By Vanessa Taylor
If
you live on the San Bernard, do you know
who your Fire Department is?
Many of the people I asked said no.
After there was a fire on the north end of
the river earlier this year, I began to
wonder about this. After a little
research, I talked to the Assistant Fire
Chief of Brazoria (Tim Foxx) and found out
that since El Bernardo Fire Department went
bankrupt, River’s End, Brazoria, and Old
Ocean Fire Departments were in the process
of expanding and splitting up the
territories on the River to cover the loss
of that department.
I was able to
find out that the three areas of fire
coverage were split as follows: The area
from the mouth (River’s End) to Squirrel
Hollow is covered by the River’s End
Volunteer Fire Department: from Squirrel
Hollow to the Hwy. 521 Bridge is covered by
the Brazoria VFD; and
from the Hwy 521
Bridge to the dam are covered by Old Ocean
VFD.
The major problem
for all the departments is water.
Although we live next to or on a river which
carries volumes of water, getting enough of
it to fight a fire is still a major problem.
The fire trucks (tankers) are only able to
carry so much water to our “remote”
locations. Without a city or community
fire hydrant system the trucks are in
trouble. Once they are out of water,
getting more water, in time to put out a
fire, is problematic. River’s End VFD
has a floating suction tank ( a device they
throw into the river or pond to suck out
water). One major problem with this
system is that if we have had a lot of rain,
the heavy fire trucks cannot get close
enough to the river to be effective.
To work, the trucks have to be at least 75
feet from the river. Another problem
with this system is the getting a pump that
will pump 1000 to 1500 gallons of water a
minute!!!! Wow, getting
complicated?
The ideal
solution for the volunteer fire departments
is for each community to provide a large
capacity tank to be hooked up to a water
well for expressly for fire fighting.
At what expense? I
haven't looked into this -- as I was getting
frustrated. But I do know that your
insurance company likes this idea and will
more than likely give you a reduced rate if
this system is in place.
I welcome
everyone and anyone to pick up where I left
off and find out what we can do to save our
lives, homes, and belongings. Please share
with us any information that may be helpful.
In case of fire along the river, call the
Brazoria Police Department at 979-798-2195
and they will dispatch the correct volunteer
fire department.
In the
meantime, support your local fire volunteer
departments. Here are a couple of
suggestions how. There are several fund
raisers throughout the year for the
individual fire departments. Below are some
I am familiar with:
- River’s End
VFD has a BBQ cook-off and an auction the
beginning of the summer and a fishing
tournament with an auction the first weekend
in October.
- Brazoria VFD
is currently selling raffle tickets on a
bright red truck for $50.00 a chance - with
only 600 tickets sold (wow the odds here are
much better than the lottery).
- I am unable to
get in touch with Old Ocean to find out
about their events.
Remember to
support all your local Volunteer Fire
Departments.
Heavy on
the Volunteer.
These men and women they give their
dedicated time and efforts around the clock
to benefit our communities.
River’s
End Volunteer Fire Department’s new tanker/pumper.
