Thanks to our Volunteer Firefighters

Written by karl chowscano

Thursday, 21 August 2008

Those  of you who know me would know that I like to shy away from matters of  political sensitivity in the Village. While I assume this message will have no  such context, I apologize in advance if it does. It is not meant  to.  Yesterday  morning my daughter ran out of her bed calling at me to go investigate the  “crashing” she heard outside her window. I ran outside to see a fellow on his  cell beside our neighbors’ (Rob and Julietta) house which was engulfed in  flames. He was clearly calling for assistance. As I came closer I was shocked  that the flames were crawling over the entire north side of the home (20 or so  feet high in my estimation).  The house (of course down slope from the  rest of the upper village) is literally surrounded by a thick insulation of  dry cedars and firs which likely interconnect the entire upper village. I  cannot imagine a better combination of factors to serve as catalyst for a  cataclysmic fire disaster than those present yesterday (except perhaps more  wind and a mid afternoon start). By the time I could rush our girls back into  our house to gather the “irreplaceables”, our volunteer fire-fighters arrived  and were all over the scene working with the order, urgency and control of a  crew who had fought five of these things last week. They were quickly joined  by West Van crews. While I am no expert, I believe the speed of their response  and the manner in which they executed their orders  from chief to “hit  the trees first”, saved many adjacent homes, if not, perhaps, our upper  village. I simply am amazed at how well that fire was contained to the burning  structure. While my heart goes out to our friends, the day could have turned  so much more tragic.   There  were other events that occurred yesterday which reinforced why we are proud to  call this village our home, but I want to focus only on the superb effort of  our firefighters and to thank them deeply.       Comments (1) >> Sharon McNeill said:   Hello there Karl. I tried to call your old office at Thorsteinssons, but they said you had moved. You left no tracks so I googled your name and came across this fire story. I am glad, as you are, that the situation did not become more tragic. When these things happen we come to appreciate and treasure our loved ones, our homes, and our communities so much more. Kind regards, Sharon McNeill September 22, 2008 Write comment Show/Hide comment form Name Email Website Title Comment Add Comment

 

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