Fire destroys Campbell County woman’s home

The End…

My dear fellow citizen. You aggravatingly and stubbornly refuse to see the obvious point. Let me put this in simple terms.

    John and Sally have been married for many years. John and Sally depend on each other and take care of each other. One day you hear someone say that John cheated on Sally last night. You decide to post “what you heard” someone say on the internet, in the paper, or on TV. You are not interested in whether it is true or not, it is “what you heard” someone say, and you are determined to tell as many other people as you can. It either does not occur to you or you just don’t care that what you say will get back to Sally. When Sally reads what you wrote she will, no doubt, question whether she can trust John anymore. Sally and John both suffer as a result. John did not cheat on Sally, and he can prove it. But you insist on defending “what you heard”. Sally and John are both hurt.

    Just so I make the analogy clear… In the analogy; John is a volunteer fire department. Sally is the public. Volunteer fire departments and the public they serve trust in and depend on each other. The public depends on the fire department to manage their crises so that they can survive. The fire department depends on the public to provide financial support so that they can continue to manage crises.

    When you repeat “what you heard” it is called gossip. When you spread gossip in a public forum it is hurtful. When you defend gossip in a public forum in spite of actual facts, it is shameful. So, I do not want you to feel bad about spreading gossip and hurting others. You should feel ashamed.

I have read the above article and all of the comments that have transpired below.  I am completely in shock that Kinfolks2u would have the nerve to complain about the volunteer fire department that showed up to put out the fire.  My husband volunteered for 5 years and has been with a paid fire department for 12.5 years.  My son has volunteered with the fire department since he was a senior in high school.  My cousin has been a volunteer and paid fire fighter with another county & city fire department.  My uncle volunteers in another state with a fire department and my brother-in-law used to be a volunteer fire fighter.  The reason I put all of that is to show that I as a wife, mother, cousin, niece, and sister-in-law have been around the fire service many years and have seen and heard many things that my fire fighter family members have gone through.  Obviously since you have blasted the efforts of the volunteer fire department that showed up to answer the call, you have no idea what they go through.  There are endless hours of training they go through.  Not only that but they see things that I know I would never want to see.  They run into burning buildings when everybody else is running out.  Why?  It’s because they have a passion to serve their community.  They want to save/help as many people as they possibly can, they want to save property from being damaged and they want to protect the environment.  Volunteer fire departments are just that…volunteer.  That means there isn’t always somebody at the station when the calls go out.  They could be at work, at home, church, another call, anywhere…  But they leave their family to go help others.  I have had many meals that my husband or son have gotten up and left to go help others.  Were they done eating?  No.  They have missed many a family function so they could go help another family in need.  I have spent countless nights lying in bed waiting for them to get back home from a fire or wreck, praying that they will make it home okay.  I have consoled my husband when he has come home crying because he had to handle a 3 year olds dead body from a window of a burning house.  I have cried all night waiting for my husband to come home when I knew that one of his fellow volunteer fire fighters had died and I wasn’t sure if he would make it home alright.  I have cried tears of joy when he has come home and told me that his legs went through a floor in a fire but he was okay or thought he was trapped in a fire and not sure if he would make it out but he did.  Has that stopped them from being fire fighters?  No!!!  Your unjust accusations of the volunteer fire department not responding quickly enough to the house fire are completely uncalled for.  Their heroic efforts may go unnoticed by you with your criticizing but I am personally thankful for the volunteer and paid fire fighters in our community.

So, from what has been posted, here is what I take away from this experience. Even if it takes “less than 10 minutes” for firefighters to get to the scene, most likely, your house will burn down completely. So, get a working fire extinguisher, and plenty of smoke alarms, and know where your important papers are, so you can quickly grab em and go. Oh, and just pray you can get your animals, kids and yourself out in time.

It is unfortunate that individuals such as Kinfolks2u stubbornly persist in defending gossip and publicly perpetuating hearsay. I would encourage anyone who is truly interested in actual facts to access public records to accurately verify any claims by any party. Ignorance by definition is a simple lack of knowledge, not at all a lack of intelligence. It is not my intent to “attack” or “blast” you, or anyone else, and I sincerely regret if you feel that has occurred. My intent is to respectfully refute the public distribution of misperceptions and misinformation through education and fact.
    Volunteer fire department and rescue squad facilities are not routinely occupied. When a citizen dials 9-1-1, volunteers are alerted who respond to those facilities to staff equipment and respond to the request for service. If the caller you identify did not dial 9-1-1, as we are taught to do from childhood, then said caller has no reasonable expectation of response. Public record will reflect the fact that emergency personnel responded promptly and arrived quickly upon receipt of the 9-1-1 call. It was NOT “at least 30 minutes” but in fact was less than 10. My heart and prayers go out to Ms. Oakes, the victim of the fire, and all the bystanders such as you who witnessed such a terrible event. I would like to reassure you that, should you ever need assistance, volunteers will continue to provide you and all citizens with prompt and professional emergency services.