Greetings to all our Theodore Dawes community members.
The June 2024 edition of Tail Board Talk brings many topics that get discussed in our area on a regular basis. We have made it past Memorial Day and the official kickoff of the summer season has begun. The grass is growing under our feet and mowers are back in action. The kids are out of school and families are planning or are on those summer vacations. Hurricane season is upon us, and we all keep watch on the western coast of Africa to see what storms might form and come in this direction.
We here at the Theodore Dawes Fire Rescue department hope you had great Memorial Day weekend and were able to spend some quality time with family and friends. We also hope you took a moment to remember those who have served our great nation and made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
Grass cutting season presents some challenges here at TDFR now that we have three properties to maintain. It can be difficult for our on-duty personnel to get to the task of cutting grass as it is dependent on our call volume and how much they are in house. I am so thankful that we have an outstanding group of volunteer members who can assist when available. While on the grass subject, let’s talk briefly about mowers, fuel, and storage. I will remind everyone that you should never store your mower or fuel in the same closed spaces that are occupied by people, nor should you store them in closed areas with gas appliances. The fumes are noxious and will make you sick over time and can be the cause of fire ignition when enclosed with gas appliances such as a water heater. Be safe when storing mowers and fuel, keep them in well ventilated areas or in outside storage buildings that are designed to house them. Now that the kids are out of school, please pay extra attention while driving in neighborhoods or any areas where children may be playing or participating in other activities. An accident involving a child and a vehicle can be devastating to both the child’s family and the driver of the vehicle. Don’t ruin your or another family’s summer. Slow down, put your phones down, since it’s against the law affective June 1st to have it in your hand while driving, and pay attention to the streets where children may be present. In fact, that’s not a bad suggestion for anytime you are
behind the stirring wheel.
Hurricane season is here. We cannot stress enough the importance of being prepared. Have a plan and make sure all your family knows that plan. If your plan is to leave town, do it early to avoid the traffic jams on the highway. If your plan is to ride it out, make sure you have supplies that will hold you and your household for at least 72 hours. Things such as bottled water or a tub full of water, batteries, and food should be stored and ready in the event of community wide, multi-day power outage. We here at TDFR will be vigilant to our area’s storm situation and we will be ready for when the calls come, but keep in mind, we just went through the same storm, and it will also take us some time to be able to respond. The 72-hour time frame is an established time that it could be before meaningful help is able to respond to your needs. Due to disabled services like power and cell, coupled with downed trees and power lines, our response times will be
slower than usual, but we will make every effort to respond. Also remember that at some point during the height of a storm we will suspend all response due to the safety concerns of our responders. Once it is safe for personnel to resume responses we will do so on a priority basis. We are here to serve but we must maintain our personal safety in order to serve.
We hope you all have a safe and enjoyable summer season, and you can rest assured that Theodore Dawes Fire Rescue has the watch. Thank you for your support and allowing us to serve your fire district.