UPDATED: Firefighters at the Ready, Even at Christmas

Wentworth Fire Joins the Challenge

Nice and toasty around the tree on Christmas day, or maybe enjoying dessert from a traditional Christmas dinner? Not so for members of the Pugwash Fire Department.

Always on call, Pugwash Fire responded to a pair of alarms right around the supper hour. The first was a single motor vehicle mishap (MVA) in West Pugwash along Highway 6.

Shortly after, the alarm rang again, calling firefighters to a chimney fire on Murray Road, on the west side of the harbour. While both are more minor on the scale of emergencies, each requires the full attention of the fire department.

Firefighters cannot assume anything when the pagers call for assistance. That single vehicle mishap may simply be a car off the road, but it could also involve entrapment, leaking flammable fuel, or worse. Similarly, that chimney fire can easily spread throughout a home creating an emergency of immense proportions. A full and early response usually limits such extremes.

While severe weather may easily cause a crisis or exacerbate conditions in a crisis, such weather cannot be an excuse for first responders failing to respond. In fact, police, fire, and ambulance personnel are called to respond no matter what the conditions, even if seated at the Christmas dinner table with family.

Pugwash Fire responded to both Christmas calls today, without hesitation and without fanfare. It is simply what they do.

Shortly after this story was posted, Wentworth Fire received a similar call for help. Another chimney fire was reported by the dispatch centre, bringing an equal response to the emergency.

Given that power is out to nearly 80,000 Nova Scotians, as of 8:20 pm, and wind warnings are approaching threatening levels, Cumberland County is peaceful by comparison.

But again, on a Christmas night in the average home, anything is but average for first responders.