An estimated 150 to 200 visitors gathered at Union County Fire Station No. 3 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 13, for the station’s annual open house.
One visitor even said his family traveled all the way from Illinois to attend the event, where guests can tour the station, explore equipment, meet volunteer firefighters and watch demonstrations.
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“The importance of the event is to build community relationships,” said 1st Lt. Eric McClure. “Our motto is ‘Our family protecting your family,’ and we hold true to that. From Chief (David) Dyer all the way down to the support firefighter, that is the way we live here.”
McClure explained that Station 3 relies entirely on volunteers to operate. Currently those volunteers include himself, Cole Payne, Paul Danner, Mark Barber, Bob Casey, Warren Cole, Mark Dressler, Laura Stone, Jakob Young, Michael Kearns, Mike McEldowney, CJ Townsend, Alex Stewart, Bill Walsh, George Holland, Ernie Soriero and John Turcotte.
McClure said the station is also funded almost entirely through community donations, with some additional support coming from county SPLOST revenues. He said the annual open house gives residents a chance to find out how community financial support is spent.
“They come in to see what their donations purchased,” McClure said. “That we were good stewards, and it went to a right cause.”
Throughout the open house, firefighters demonstrated several emergency response situations, such as a quick-dress performed by 2nd Lt. Cole Payne. The demonstration showed visitors how quickly firefighters must put on their protective gear to respond to a call. Payne completed the demonstration in 1 minute and 20 seconds, beating the department’s two-minute standard.
A later demonstration showcased how firefighters use tools like cutters and spreaders to remove people from damaged vehicles after crashes.
“We let people pick their tools up, see how heavy they are and all that,” McClure said.
The final demonstration highlighted the station’s role in local search and rescue by teaching visitors to use a Stokes basket. Because Station 3 covers areas including portions of the mountains and the Appalachian Trail, McClure said firefighters sometimes use the equipment to transport injured people from remote locations to an ambulance.
“If somebody’s hiking, and that may not be search and rescue, it may even be fire related, but if they get a call that somebody fell, we have to transport that patient to the roadway to an ambulance,” McClure explained.
Food for the event was provided and served by The Table food truck of Vertical Church. Volunteer Alexis Noe said the group’s mission is to serve the community by providing free meals at local events.
“We were invited to come help serve this year, because that’s just what we do,” Noe said. “We go out to serve the community, and everything we offer is free.”
