Blue Ridge Rescue Squad ceases operation, fire department still needs volunteers
Editor:
Many may have noted the reports that the Blue Ridge Volunteer Rescue Squad has ceased operation after almost 40 years of serving the Blue Ridge and Botetourt community. The rescue squad fell victim, like many other volunteer EMS agencies, to the lack of volunteers and thus not being able to continue to provide the emergency medical service needed. This is an unfortunate reality of today’s society with work and family concerns limiting volunteer activities.
Emergency medical service in Blue Ridge will be assumed by the Botetourt Fire & EMS Department, but not without a cost to the county. The seven new employees required to staff an ambulance in Blue Ridge comes with an approximate price tag of $300,000 to the taxpayers. The volunteers have benefited the county immensely over the past 40 years and this service will be greatly missed in the community.
The Blue Ridge Volunteer Fire Department continues to provide fire protection to the Blue Ridge and Botetourt community, but needs more volunteers, especially those that might be available for emergency calls during daytime hours. Chief Maddox of the Blue Ridge department noted that as hard as it may seem to volunteer time, the sense of satisfaction gained from being able to help your neighbors is well worth the time expended.
He also noted that not all volunteers need to feel like they must be able to go into a burning building. Of course, there needs to be those willing to fight fire, but many different tasks are needed to run a smooth fire department. Things like driving the trucks and running the pumps or just being a general helper on the scene of a fire can be great assets.
Many of the fire department’s emergency calls are not for fire emergencies. There are things like car accidents and technical rescues, which need a different set of skills, as well as community service training and advocacy. Chief Maddox stresses that if you have the desire to serve your community, we can find a spot for you.
The Blue Ridge department also wants to assure the community that the community’s donations to the rescue squad were handled properly. The department is incorporated with the state of Virginia as the Blue Ridge Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad Inc. This combined incorporation made it easy for the rescue squad to combine all its funds and assets into the fire department, so the assets continue to help provide emergency services to the community.
The department would one day like to provide first responder service to the community to help when the county ambulance is unavailable or if additional assistance is needed. But the volunteers required to provide this service are needed. This is another way you can serve your community.
For information on how you can volunteer, visit the Blue Ridge Volunteer Fire Department at www.blueridgefiredept.com or call 977-2094 and leave a message.
Michael Rock, President
Blue Ridge Volunteer
Fire Department
A response to Botetourt Democrats’ letter to Cline
Editor:
It was with great amusement I read the Botetourt County Democratic Committee’s open letter to Rep. Ben Cline in the February 3 edition of The Fincastle Herald. The letter begins by asking Rep. Cline to uphold the Constitution of the United States by congratulating Biden and Harris. I have read the Constitution, and I have never seen the provisions that our political leaders are required to congratulate each other. Did the Democratic Committee send a similar letter to Senators Warner and Kaine in 2017? I could have missed it, but I do not remember it printed in The Herald.
But maybe our Democratic neighbors expect Rep. Cline to act like the majority of the Democratic representatives did from 2017 until this past January. Should he use Rep. Nadler (D) and Rep. Schiff (D) as examples and spend millions of our tax dollars on investigations and political theater that was ultimately shown to be based on lies and fabricated evidence? But at least if Rep. Cline does use Schiff and Nadler as examples on how to proceed in the Biden administration, the evidence against the Bidens’ suspected financial crimes has real evidence to support the allegations.
As for upholding the Constitution, our Democratic neighbors are following the DNC in only picking and choosing what parts of the Constitution that should be upheld. They expect Rep. Cline to NOT uphold the 2nd Amendment nor the Due Process clause of the Constitution. The 2nd Amendment is part of the U.S. Constitution, and the principles of the 2nd Amendment are part of our state’s Constitution.
And for clarity, people who swarm across our southern border and enter this country illegally are not immigrants, they are breaking our laws. Legal immigration has always been a cornerstone of the United States and should always be part of our culture, but illegal immigration is not and should not be tolerated. Our Constitution established a due process for people who break the laws that are duly enacted by Congress, including illegal immigrants. I encourage Rep. Cline to uphold ALL aspects of our great Constitution, not just the parts that are politically expedient to a minority of Botetourt County.
I am at a loss about the sanctity of life addressed in the letter. I am sure our Founding Fathers would have been horrified at the wholesale backing of abortion that today’s Democratic Party endorses. The Democratic Party has no right to speak on the sanctity of life based on its party platform for the widespread support for abortion.
Lastly, I request that the Democratic Committee turn over any evidence it has for the planned violence it alleges in its letter. I would hope that they will do what is right. And if they are worried about violence, what is the Botetourt County Democratic Committee’s stance on the DNC’s support of the destruction and violence that it supported in 2020 in Portland, Seattle, Minneapolis and Kenosha?
Todd L. Dodson
Fincastle
Reader advocates Federal Health Insurance program
Editor:
An open letter to Congressman Ben Cline:
Everyone I know agrees health care has become very costly, yet I don’t know anyone who wants government one-size-fits-all health care.
Why not give everyone the option to buy health insurance through the very same Federal Health Insurance program that is now available to Congress and all federal employees? It’s an excellent program where each individual has a choice of a wide variety of nation-wide insurance companies and insurance plans to select from with the government paying a percentage of each premium.
Each individual selects from a menu of health plans where they choose what they want covered and how much of a deductible, if any, they can afford. Less coverage and higher deductibles equals lower premiums to be paid by the individual. For example, why on earth would a woman who’s had a hysterectomy want to pay for health insurance that covers pregnancies?
I am advocating that the government use tax dollars to offset the cost of insurance and NOT government involvement into the health care the patient opts to receive.
Anita Lambert
Daleville
