Happy New Year 2017

From Chief Curtis Sheets

We’re happy to report our recent volunteer drive went well and both the Fire Department and Rescue Squad have new volunteers in the loop to help answer emergency calls. The new recruits come from the mountain, the valley, and the “greater Nellysford” area. Collectively, Wintergreen Fire and Wintergreen Rescue responded to over 1,000 on-property 911 calls in 2016.

More on ALERT WINTERGREEN here.

Although it’s going to be close, it looks as if both agencies will reach their fund-drive goals for the year. In 2017 the Fire Department will replace a 2002 response vehicle and the Rescue Squad will replace a 2006 ambulance.

A grant request for 50 percent of the ambulance replacement has been approved. The matching grant will result in over $113,000 in funding from the Commonwealth of Virginia. Since 2000, over $2 million in grants have been awarded to Wintergreen Fire and/or Wintergreen Rescue.

More on CPR training here.

In 2017 there will be two areas of special focus.

First, we will continue our efforts to train as many residents and associates to provide high-quality CPR. Over the past few months over a hundred people have been certified and we would love to double that in 2017.

Second, we want to be certain that all residents are participating in the ALERT WINTERGREEN system. As we have seen from the catastrophic fires in Gatlinburg, the ability to notify citizens in real-time is paramount.

We intend to dedicate more time in next year than ever before on creating new emergency plans and evaluating existing ones. For the next 90 days however, we focus on the immediate challenge otherwise known as “ski season”. Here’s to a safe and prosperous season.