Career department vs. volunteer department...That debate has gone on for decades and probably will continue to be debated for decades to come.
The one thing to remember is that whether you are for volunteer departments or career departments, they both deserve to be given the full respect for the jobs they do.
When a firefighter, whether it is a volunteer or a career firefighter, gets injured or loses their life it affects the entire fire service. And rightfully so. So for the rest of this article forget the terms volunteer firefighter and career firefighter and just think about firefighters as a whole.
On Saturday night December 10 2011 a fire broke out just after 9:30pm. This fire was in the Texas city of San Manuel in the Rio Grande Valley. The fire would destroy the San Manuel fire station (the entire building ) as well as a pumper truck, their rescue gear and their medical equipment. The San Manuel still has one tanker truck and two brush trucks.
The reason this fire was unrestrained for so long and was able to create so much damage was because the San Manuel firefighters were at a Christmas party in Edingburg. Geographically the city of Edingburg is very close, minutes. With them were the tanker truck and two brush trucks.
The San Manuel Fire Department's Fire Chief would like the public to know that even though they have lost much of their equipment - their department will continue to serve their community.
Rio Grande Valley fire departments are continuing to help the San Manuel Fire Department by lending gear and trucks when available. These same departments including Pharr, Alamo, McAllen, Mission, Raymondville, And Edingburg were also there to help the San Manuel Fire Department extinguish the building fire.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation. The building and its wiring were over 60 years old at the time of the fire.
San Manuel and their fire department will be having fund-raisers in order to replace all the equipment they lost. A complete total, in dollars, has not been figured as of yet. Their community, as well as communities nationwide will hopefully help them in their time of need.
The company that owns the land surrounding the now burned down fire station, is allowing the San Manuel Fire Department to use an old shed and a old convenience store that is located next store. The San Manuel firefighters will meet, train and run calls out of this old convenience store for now.
The San Manuel Fire Department would like to and still is emphasizing that it will provide help to those who need it, no matter the conditions.
In times like this whether a department is volunteer or career makes no difference. Please keep the San Manuel Fire Department and their families and community members in your thoughts and prayers. If you would like to know more information on how you can help please contact me and I will get you in contact with right people...
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