News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District honored their own this week at their annual awards dinner. The Sisters community should take a moment to tip the hat to the whole department - and to the Black Butte Ranch and Cloverdale firefighters who also protect our community.
The past couple of weeks have provided a vivid example of the hard work these men and women do for our community. There has recently been a series of horrific accidents on Highway 20 in the Sisters area. Firefighters from Sisters and Black Butte Ranch have had to cut badly injured and dying people out of the wreckage and work to save them under difficult conditions.
Sure, it's their job - but its a job where ordinary work requires extraordinary fortitude and dedication.
And for some, in fact, it's not actually a job. It's a volunteer commitment, a means of serving the community while doing interesting, challenging and important work.
Paid staff or volunteers, they all deserve our gratitude and respect. It can't be easy dealing with death and injury and crisis on a weekly and sometimes daily basis, but somebody's got to do it, and we're fortunate that so many in our community are willing to take it on.
The Sisters fire district is facing some challenging years ahead as the community grows. With an aging demographic and the possibility of two new destination resort communities on the horizon, the district's demands for service are likely to skyrocket in the next decade. More homes in the wildland interface also mean more homes to protect in our seemingly annual conflagrations.
The district is doing a lot of planning and it is positioned well to meet its challenges. But our firefighters can always use your support. Volunteering is the best way to show that support, but not everyone can make that commitment.
So, always and no matter what, a simple "thank you" can go a long way.
Jim Cornelius, News Editor
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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