April 25, 2025 Editor, The News-Gazette: We recently experienced our greatest natural threat to living in a remote mountain area – fire. An Irish Creek home caught fire when no one was present and the closest neighbors didn’t see the flames until it was too late to save the home, but thanks to the rapid response from virtually all local volunteer fire departments, they were able to prevent the fire from expanding into a wildfire that could have consumed acres of forest land, destroyed many homes and threatened the lives of people who would have been trapped if their only exit from the mountain had caught fire.
South River/Fairfield and Buena Vista were the first departments to arrive, with additional water trucks, rescue volunteers and support coming from Raphine, Lexington, Glasgow, Natural Bridge, Rockbridge Baths, Montebello, Walkers Creek, Kerrs Creek and Goshen (who ran calls for South River while their whole team was dispatched to Irish Creek), and of course our local sheriff’s office. Thank you to everyone who quickly came to our aid and stayed late into the evening to ensure the fire was no longer a danger! Because of their efforts, no life was lost in this tragedy.
Many of us moved here for the isolation and close connection to nature. This event was a stark reminder that we cannot survive without the support of volunteers and many of the services provided by our local government and businesses. We like to think of ourselves as “living independently off the land,” but the reality is we need each other to live well and we need the vital services provided by our first responders to save us in times of crisis.
I ask your readers to please donate annually to their local fire and rescue departments. When you need them in a hurry, you will be glad that our community volunteers are willing to come and will have the training and equipment they need to help! JEANNE OLIVER Irish Creek resident
