Times Examiner Facebook Logo

Thursday, March 28, 2024 - 09:24 AM

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

First Published in 1994

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF
UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

Riverfalls-Fire-Department

River Falls Firefighters are losing their fire station…two months ago the roof of their station dropped dramatically and the ceiling bowed in the middle of the bay area where their shiny red fire trucks sit, ready to rescue an injured person in the Marietta area. Walls have shifted, windows cracked, and trusses dropped a foot…1st one loose and then came the domino effect…boom, boom, boom…. “Contractors have said this building is dangerous and it is going to fall in,” affirms David Embry, River Falls Fire Chief. Now the firehouse is unsafe for these heroes to serve this area.

These firefighters, both men and women ages 13 to 70, volunteer their time to serve this area of 4,000 plus residents every second of the day.

Terry Hightower, Fire Commission Chairman of River Falls, states these firefighters “are great volunteers…dedicated to serve.” Tom Corbin, State House Representative District 17, affirms, “I have not met a finer group of people to stand shoulder to shoulder.” He tells a story of volunteer firefighters from Tigerville Fire Department saving his brother’s life. “My brother was cutting timber and his leg crushed and was pinned under a tree. I notified the Tigerville Fire Department and firefighters came and pulled my brother’s leg out from under the tree. A volunteer firefighter carried him off the property and took him to the hospital. Today he has his leg because the firefighters came and rescued him.”

Firefighters live normal lives, but when “we receive a call to action, we are the 1st Responders… there to help these people,” states Linda Levell, a River Falls volunteer Firefighter, and a Licensed Nurse. Her husband, Pastor Harry Levell of Gap Creek Baptist Church in Marietta, SC, is also a volunteer River Falls Firefighter and a Certified Fire Chaplain who understands the meaning of “1st responders.” They received a disturbing house fire call and rushed to the flaming hot burning flames. The house burned down, but they were able to get the family out safely. While the firefighters saved the man’s property, Chaplain Levell was able to comfort the man’s soul. The man said, “1st responders worked on me and prayed with me…I survived!”

These dedicated firefighters see the need for a new fire station in their community. Firefighter Deb Gravely states that, “We need to be able to support the community and take care of our equipment that is piled up all over the place. People are going to look to us to fix things. It is our fault if it does not happen, and I do not want to feel that guilt.”  Firefighter Gabriel Keenan affirms that we “need to improve our facilities for a station that we can grow into. Our firefighter staff has doubled in size and we need to have a station that accommodates our needs.”

What can Greenville County do for the brave, valiant firefighters that are saving lives… and saving our souls…get involved!

Join the Roof Raisers Fund Raising Committee. Last week 19 concerned citizens from Taylors to Marietta area showed up to support and offer skills to help with the new firehouse.

Call your local Congressmen and express the need for a new firehouse for these courageous firefighters of River Falls. This firehouse “is a unique situation. It is destroyed and beyond our control. Put the word out there. Tell them you need help,” states Tom Corbin, State House Representative, District 17.

If the community “works together, things will happen,” affirms Terry Hightower, Fire Commission Chairman of River Falls. So, let us roll up our shirt sleeves and stand alongside these heroic men and women in their golden suits and black hats and get involved to help serve and protect…one poet puts it like this…

“A fireman in a yellow suit races to a fire in hot pursuit to rescue one in need and to heal one who bleeds. He needs no praise but wants to stop the blaze before a body is enslaved with doom and despair.”

No comments

Leave your comment

In reply to Some User