To the editor:
On Wednesday, Oct. 17, there was a fire at my neighbor's farm. Many of Mifflin County's fire departments responded as quickly as possible. However, we live next to the Mifflin/Snyder county line and the closest fire department is 20 minutes away. The Bannerville Fire Company, in neighboring Snyder County, is less that five minutes away and the McClure Fire Company is less than 10 minutes away, yet they were not dispatched until 10 minutes after Mifflin County got the call. Bannerville still was the first on the scene and was able to contain the fire before a major inferno occurred.
I would like to respectfully request that the Mifflin County dispatcher change the present protocol for calling ambulances and fire companies so that the Bannerville and McClure fire companies are dispatched at the same time as Mifflin County when a call comes from this end of the county, specifically, calls on Samuel's Church Road, Decatur Road, Krick Road, Road Apple Drive, Ritter's Road, Wolf Run Road and County Line Road. The minutes saved by doing so could avert future tragedies.
Thank you to all the firemen and other emergency volunteers who did respond to the fire Wednesday. I am employed by a firefighting family and am witness to the fact that your whole lifestyle is consumed with raising funds, training, taking care of the equipment, company organization, and the all-important responding to fires and other emergencies and dropping whatever you may be doing to help others.
I urge others to financially support their local fire company as much as possible. Make it a priority because the next call may be for you.
Jan Mohapp
McClure
