I Am Impressed

As a journalist, I witness a lot.  I attend practically every meeting and every function of every governmental body and service, so I have the distinct advantage of seeing first hand what goes on in our community.  Rarely am I shocked or surprised. Sometimes it seems as if the County is immersed in fighting, with members of government bodies going at each other at every turn.

This past week I was just getting in from a long day in meetings that was the accumulation of a week of long meetings, when a late evening call came in about a house fire on the Chestnut Hill side of the lake. I grabbed my camera, stored my subway sandwich in the refrigerator and made my way to the bridge. After getting the go ahead to cross from the Dandridge Police Officer and Hwy Superintendent manning the bridge, I made my way over the winding road to the scene of a house fire. When I first approached the address, I noticed an army of first responders parked on a hill across the main road and they appeared to be moving in and out, exchanging places with others that were located down a dark drive. A quick appraisal confirmed that the fire was, indeed, down that private drive that appeared to go to nowhere. As anyone who is familiar with that area of the County knows, easy access is not ever a guarantee and the torrential rains a few days earlier made for poor conditions on small unpaved roads but I followed direction of the Fire Trucks on foot and, after a short, cold and wet walk arrived at the house fire.

I quickly took up a location out of the way of the responders, where I could record the news for our readers.  At first it seemed like absolute chaos.  There were fire trucks stuck in mud, roads and paths so narrow the drivers couldn’t turn vehicles around, and the distance to the burning house seemed too far to get equipment and water to.  At first glance, it seemed like an insurmountable task.

Ladies and Gentlemen, let me assure you as an eye witness, that these fire fighters, rescue crews, police officers, and all the support crews never even blinked.  They came together in what can only be described as ONE well oiled precision machine.  Water was trucked in and relayed down the muddy road to a temporary reservoir tank.  That water was distributed in a series to deliver it to the fire fighters who were by now breeching the house and fighting flames.  Equipment was being relayed to the house by the crews.  A rehabilitation station was set up by the Rescue Squad to give relief to the fire fighters if they became fatigued from battling the flames. 

I have often wondered if anyone in this County could work together and my question was answered that evening. Fire Crews from every station in the County responded in some fashion, some were directly on the scene and others covered for those on the scene. The effort was huge and effective and it renewed my faith that important things can be done when people work together toward a common goal. There were no unimportant jobs and no jockeying for position. Everyone did what they did because it is what they do. In a County that has a hard time agreeing on much, it gave me hope. So, thank you First Responders, for your service. Thank You, to those on the front line and those that assist those on the front line, for knowing how to put everything else aside and make the big things happen. I am impressed by your professionalism. I am impressed by your ability, despite coming from different places, to act as one for a common goal. Just suffice it to say, I am impressed.

Source: Jeff Depew, Editor