FTLComm - Tisdale - November 12, 1999

Thursday, late afternoon and the fire alarm goes and Tisdale's well trained and well equipped Volunteer fire department sprang into action. I was right in the area so it was easy to see the well disciplined and dedicated individuals pull on their outfits mount up and zoom off to the emergency. The surprising quickness of the response should make all of us sleep better at night from the time of the alarm to fully equipped firemen on the scene, was right around the five minutes, perhaps less.

The crew were all in their gear and equipped to meet whatever emergency they might be confronted with and there was no evidence of that sort of attitude some fire companies demonstrate "ah this is just a drill". It was a business like response and done with reason and directness. The emergency was the vehicle in the picture (right) with its hood up. The driver had smelled smoke brought the thing to a halt and when he opened the hood was confronted with a definitely overheated engine. One of Tisdale's "first responders" just happened to be coming around the corner at the moment called the fire department and proceeded with others to use a fire extinguisher to prevent the fire from consuming the vehicle.

The message for all of us was plain and to the point, if there is a chance that something is going to get serious, don't take any chances, the fire department is quick, extremely well trained and they will be on the scene in five minutes or less and can prevent a minor event from becoming a major one.