Great interagency cooperation!
The summer season is now over, we are in to Fall. With the fall season came district fire schools, fire department open houses, fire prevention programs for schools, and who knows what else. Of course, in South Dakota this is also the really big start of all the hunting seasons. So, with that in mind, please be careful when out in the field, both hunting and driving. Remember there are a lot of loved ones who want you to be there for them.
Once again, your almost favorite treasurer is bugging you for something. Not much, just wanted to remind everyone that very shortly your departments 2025 Membership will be due. If you want to get ahead of the game, just take a head count of how many members your department has, multiply that by $25 and mail in a check or go online. That’s all there is to it. Please remember to include an updated roster with emails and mailing addresses, or you can do that online also. See how your Board is looking out for you and trying to make your life easier.
In early September we had a wildland/urban interface fire just southwest of Rapid City. The potential was huge, but for some reason not all the elements came into alignment. With lots of hard work, GREAT interagency cooperation, it was held to less than 160 acres and no structures damaged or lost. I want to take a minute and praise the interagency cooperation we have. I have been to the National Fire Academy a number of times, and in visiting with other firefighters, officers, wildland agencies so many have little to no interagency cooperation. I have been told by fire departments, that if they see smoke or a report of a fire on federal land, they simply don’t go. Not in South Dakota. None of us can go it alone. We need and must have that cooperation and yes, we do.
That fire brought up another topic as we waited for sunrise. Several of us were talking about the “big” fires we had around 2000 and those years. We noted that so many of the volunteer departments could crew a truck for several days on end, 24 hours per day, using rotating firefighters. Nowadays, many departments struggle to crew a truck for their own fires let alone a mutual aid fire somewhere else. Don’t even think about doing that for three or four days in a row. Things have changed, that’s for certain. Sometimes not too sure what it is, but then again…
Since we have to have our articles into Jeff at the paper by the 15th of the month, the Fall Conference hasn’t happened yet. I’ll give you some insights next month. Anyway, that should do it for this month.
As I put the finishing touches on this article there have been numerous grassfires around the state. I hope all will be out today or at least contained so all those affected can get back to their “normal” lives. Once again, the fire departments of South Dakota answered the call. Everyone please be safe.
Denny Gorton,
SDFA Treasurer