Greetings Theodore and Dawes,
We hope you all had a safe and Happy Thanksgiving. I don’t think we had even one call for a burnt meal in the oven or an exploding fried turkey on the deck. Way to keep it safe out there. As we all kick our systems into high gear and barrel towards Christmas, we hope you all will continue to maintain a vigilance towards safety for your family, friends, and neighbors. The Christmas season not only brings joy and happiness to millions around the world, it can also bring an array of issues for emergency services.
The list, not Santa’s, can sometimes be just as long, from falls while putting up Christmas lights to fires caused by Christmas trees. So, let’s dive into some of them, please be very careful when hanging exterior lights and using ladders. We encourage everyone to always have some help in the form of a spotter/holder when climbing ladders. If you happen to need to do some pruning and need to break out that chain saw, be very careful. Nothing can ruin the holidays like having an emergency that puts you in the hospital for the duration. When you get ready to throw ye ole yule log on the fire, ask yourself how long it has been since you had your fireplace inspected and/or cleaned. Soot builds up in your flue and can lead to an ignition of accumulated products of previous fires that can rapidly spread into your attic space. Please consider having a professional chimney sweep do an inspection/cleaning before you have a rip-roaring fire in the fireplace that turns into your house on fire. It Happens! I save the best one for last. If you are a live Christmas Tree person and love the smell it spreads into your home, please make sure you keep it watered. While it may be called a live tree, it starts dying the minute it is cut down. The cool thing about nature though, is that the cut tree has the ability to absorb that water from its stand and keep that fresh live look and smell for weeks. The vital key is to keep it watered. An un- watered tree can dry out quickly and a dry Christmas tree, if ignited, can burn very fast and very hot, easily spreading to everything around. I have seen many Christmases destroyed by a Christmas tree that was not properly cared for. Don’t let not caring for your tree ruin your Christmas holiday.
It has been a good year for your Theodore Dawes Fire Department, we were able to finish our year on a positive note. Over the course of the year, we managed to pay off our ladder truck and we are still working on growing our District into the Dawes North community and we are still working on getting Fire Station 4 renovated, up, and running. Please be safe during this Christmas Season, be patient with others, slow down and enjoy your time with family and friends, and most importantly, don’t forget the reason for the Season.
From the Members of your Theodore Dawes Fire Rescue Department and District Board,
God Bless and Merry Christmas