MEDWAY
RIVER FIRE DEPARTMENTS
Queens County, Nova Scotia
Queens County, Nova Scotia
FAST RESPONSE
Much has been written regarding the importance of fast responses. With rural volunteer fire departments, time is especially important. Rarely does the page go out when the members are at the hall. With the Mill Village and District Fire Department (MVDFD) about one half of the members live 6 kilometers from the Hall and it is not uncommon for the trucks to roll within 10 minutes of the page. Unfortunately, the number of fire fighters available often is not as great as would be liked. Fortunately, the Charleston and Port Medway Departments are normally paged at the same time as MVDFD and MVDFD receives their pages as well and adequate personnel arrive at the scene within 15 to 20 minutes, often less. However, a lot can happen during the page to arrival time.
It is therefore of great importance that those needing aid do not delay dialing 911. Fighting a fire until it gets out of hand is going to present a fire department with very difficult situations. It is better to call 911 immediately if there is any chance of spreading. It is better to go back with a fire out on arrival than to arrive with the building fully engaged.
| With
the MVDFD,
members living in Danesville normally go directly to the scene. Their
turn-out gear will be there in Truck # 1. Similar approaches
are used
by the other departments. With motor
vehicle accidents (MVA), the
fire departments are often paged some time after the police and
ambulance service have been paged. The fire department's role
usually
involves traffic control, first aid assistance and victim
extraction.
Soon there will be jaws-of-life with the MVDFD units and
training will
be performed for members of the 3 departments. With the injured, time is often of great importance. There is an obvious need for fire fighting equipment when fuel is spilled, but electrical fires can also result which are fed by burnables as well as fuel. With greater frequency, MVA scenes are subject to temporary road closures until the scene if fully evaluated and equipment and personnel are placed to offer maximum protection for all who are there. |
 Used by permission of owners and artists Sabine & Bernhard Trentmann, Hoerdinghausen, Germany |
One of the benefits of fast responses by the rural fire departments is time. Without them, one can easily add 20 minutes additional waiting for Liverpool to travel to the site.
THIS DUTCH VIDEO SHOWS WHAT IS INVOLVED IN A
RESPONSE TO A FIRE CALL BY VOLUNTEERS