I'm very proud to be the leader of the Sundre Fire Department.
The community and surrounding area should be very grateful to have such a great group of dedicated volunteers who rise up to face the mishaps that this world tends to throw at us.
For example, when I asked the members of the department to form a volunteer crew to go to Fort McMurray to help fight the wildland fires and protect the city, they all gave me a show of hands. But even though they were all willing to go, I could only take a few because we still have to protect what we have at home.
So our department joined forces with the other Mountain View County fire departments — including Olds, Didsbury, Cremona and Carstairs — and together we all went up in a convoy to help do whatever was needed.
Let me tell you, it was no five-star hotel when we got there — we slept where we could, we ate on the fly whatever was available, and had cold river water showers until a proper camp system was set up.
To me, that demonstrates the extent of the selfless dedication of a great bunch of firefighters who are willing to go across this province or to wherever to lend a hand if needed at the blink of an eye. And to boot, they would volunteer to do it again in a heartbeat.
There are many stories I could tell about this committed group — this is just one that sticks out, and I'll never forget what we saw and experienced in Fort McMurray.
