Here, There, Everywhere

   Welcome to October. Where the forecast is made up and the season doesn’t matter.

   I would like to recognize Beresford Volunteer Department and Yankton Volunteer Fire Department on their milestone celebrations. Beresford VFD celebrated 125 years of service in August. Yankton VFD, the first fire department in South Dakota organized in 1874, celebrated 150 years of service in September. Congratulations to all the past and current dedicated members of these outstanding volunteer departments. 

   The National Volunteer Fire Council and corporate sponsor John Deere developed a documentary of the volunteer fire service in the United States. 

   The documentary, “Odd Hours, No Pay, Cool Hat,” looks at the training, time commitment, family involvement, equipment, and variety of different volunteer departments there are across the country. From rural and agricultural areas; mountain and forested regions; urban areas; and a Jewish community with a unique response department. Odd Hours will show you how the challenges of the volunteer fire service are very similar and very different, no matter where we are from.

   Public Broadcasting System (PBS) television and other streaming services will have the documentary available for you to watch throughout October. SD-PBS will have it showing Oct. 28-29. Check out local listings and  https://oddhoursfilm.com for more details.

   If your community has a movie theatre and would like to have a special showing, contact me or the NVFC office for ways to get the movie for your location.

   The NVFC Fall meetings were held in Kansas City the end of September. I will have an update on National issues in the next issue. The status of the NFPA Standards to OSHA regulations will be a major topic of conversation, once again. 

   October is Fire and Home Safety month. “Smoke Alarms: Make them work for you” is the theme for 2024. 

   The 2025 SDFA membership letters will be coming out soon. Please, make sure you have department members registered in our membership system to receive updates, notifications, and options for submitting your dues and rosters.

   To say the fall fire season is upon us may seem like a misnomer since many of you have dealt with many fires, already. We all know the annual dry, post-harvest conditions are showing. Please, keep the equipment and yourself in good operating condition.  

   Stay safe,

Charlie Kludt,

SDFA President