Vote no on 5A

Posted

“Fueled by fire. Driven by courage.”

The propaganda distributed by representatives supporting the Pagosa Fire Protection District (PFPD) at Tuesday night’s League of Women Voter’s forum accurately describes Pagosa’s firefighters.

The district has 10 paid staff members and more than 50 dedicated volunteers who serve a vast district consisting of approximately 317 square miles. They respond to emergencies and serve our community 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Those emergency calls include ones such as the one on Monday for a student at the middle school who was having difficulty breathing due to an allergic reaction. There were no ambulances available, and our PFPD provided the much-needed response to the incident.

On Tuesday, firefighters rescued a calf that had fallen into a well. They’ve even rescued cats that were stuck up trees, and horses and dogs that fell through the ice on ponds and lakes.

Other services the PFPD provides include structural firefighting, auto extrication, wildland firefighting, ice rescue, swiftwater rescue, hazardous materials response, disaster response and risk management. They provide public assistance with smoke detectors and alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. PFPD provides public education regarding fire prevention and safety. Firefighters visit our local schools to teach our children fire safety.

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