Brotherhood Without Borders
By Kate Hill
New York, USA
Chautauqua County is a small rural county in westernmost New York state.
There are 42 volunteer fire departments there. Many of the area firefighters
regularly vacation in Marten River, a remote town 400 miles north in Ontario,
Canada. They've become friends with the 12 members of the tiny Marten River
Volunteer Fire Department.
Marten River protects a district of over 500 square miles -- half the size
of Chautauqua County. They also respond to emergencies on a 65-mile stretch
of the Trans-Canada highway, and, more frightening, the Trans-Canada pipeline
runs through their district. Their equipment: a 3/4-ton pickup truck fitted
with emergency equipment and a 200-gallon water tank. They depend on a
portable pump and a nearby pond or river for more water. For more than half
the year, the firefighters have to drill through over a foot of ice to even
reach additional water.
One Chautauqua County firefighter brought Marten River's plight to the
Chautauqua County Fire Chiefs' Association meeting. They overwhelmingly
decided to "adopt" Marten River.
The community of Dunkirk in Chatauqua County had retired a fire truck, and
after a year in storage it had to be moved. Used fire trucks are not big
sellers. Generally fire departments hang on to their equipment as long as
they can, so when they finally get funding for a new one the old one is
outdated and sometimes in bad shape.
Dunkirk's chief knew that if the truck sat outside, it would just
deteriorate and end up in the junkyard. He brought his idea of donating the
truck to the mayor and city council, and they approved the transfer.
The truck's ownership was transferred to the Chautauqua County Fire
Chiefs' Association in October 2001, but it was in need of work. It needed
paint, tires, hoses, nozzles, batteries, hard suction, new seats and all
related fire-fighting equipment. Word went out to the local fire companies,
and donations of surplus equipment came pouring in. Letters were sent to
local civic organizations and money trickled in.
Even private businesses donated. A road construction service firm took the
truck on their own flatbed to their central shop 200 miles away. They
stripped, sandblasted, and did body work on the truck, then applied
damage-resistant, no-fade paint (at $900 per gallon), and delivered it back
to us -- at no cost. Many hours of work by a small group of local
firefighters then brought the truck back to life as a true Class A pumper.
On December 14, 2001, the fire truck rode the donated flatbed to its new
home. Nine firefighters accompanied the truck. On arrival, they presented it
to the Marten River Fire Department and spent the next few emotional days
training the Canadians on the apparatus.
After all the help U.S. firefighters got from Canada in the aftermath of
September 11, 2001, this was the least we could do to repay them. It proves
again that the brotherhood of firefighters -- perhaps indeed the brotherhood
of man -- knows no boundaries.
After this story was published, we corresponded with the author to
ask if she had pictures of these events. Boy did she! We're very
pleased to present the photographs below. (Click on any of the
thumbnails for the larger version.)
