Tellico Village Volunteer Fire Department dealing with drought

Over the past few weeks, Tellico Village and its residents — like the rest of East Tennessee — have been experiencing high temperatures and heat waves, along with long stints without rain.

According to the official U.S. drought-monitoring website … parts of Loudon County are in the midst of moderate drought while other areas have been categorized as experiencing severe levels of drought.

These conditions often lead to a rise in brush fires, along with increased usage of water when those fires arise.

As a result, these hot-weather conditions have caught the attention of the Tellico Village Volunteer Fire Department as it continues to be at the forefront of addressing issues such as these in the community.

“We have noticed (the drought),” Assistant Fire Chief Bill Ballinger said. “Anytime you need water to service what you do as a fire department, you worry about things like that.

“The good news is we’ve got a big lake that TVA does a great job of managing the water in, and so far … knock on wood … we haven’t had a major fire incident in the community.”

THE MAJOR IMPACT

While recent conditions aren’t necessarily ideal, according to Ballinger it’s better to be experiencing this kind of weather in the summer rather than the fall. He said in the fall the dead leaves and dry conditions cause brush fires to pop up sporadically and last longer. In the summer, new vegetation helps keep fires at bay.

While other departments in Loudon County have had issues with brush fires, nothing major has affected the Village.

All that being said, recent weather HAS impacted the TVVFD in three other major ways. The first is how their equipment reacts to the heat, the second is the increased number of calls they receive due to high temperatures and the third is the toll it is taking on their volunteer staff.

To begin with … “Our (vehicles) inside and outside at our fire station are air conditioned,” Ballinger said. “And then we do have our rescue vehicles which we keep on the road 24 hours a day … They’re sitting in the hot sun and there’s equipment in them that doesn’t do well at 110-120 degrees inside of a vehicle.

“We’ve had to add coolers to our vehicles,” he added. “We’ve had to bring equipment inside when trucks are parked in places, as well as leave trucks running at the scene with air conditioners on — which we don’t normally do.”

The second issue the recent heat has caused is driving the number of calls the department receives up.

“We are at a pretty significant pace right now with call volume and they’re mostly medical,” Ballinger said. “A fair amount of it can be tied back to heat emergencies. … So people are in the heat, and they become ill.”

He explained how Villagers are overheating doing daily tasks like yard work, exercising or simply playing golf in the sun. Ballinger said that it happens suddenly and encourages Villagers to be aware of the conditions outside.

The strain on the Villagers is also something that has affected the Fire Department’s volunteers.

“These folks were just waiting on your call doing emails in an air-conditioned house and — BOOM! — all of a sudden they’re out in the heat for an hour or maybe even longer … strenuous hours,” Ballinger said.

“So we’ve got coolers in both of our rescue trucks now with water and Gatorade on ice that we’re keeping 24/7 available for our folks. And we’re trying to rotate people so that we’ve got fresh people and people rehabbing, we call it.

“So it just takes a little extra effort, if you will, during this time.”

WATER MANAGEMENT, GOOD NEIGHBORS

It’s no secret that the Tellico Village area has had to deal with some issues in regard to water pressure and usage. It’s something that the TVVFD has likewise had to navigate.

“We’ve been working with Mr. Pillsbury and Benoit (in regards to) the water issues,” he said. “At different times of the day, depending on what’s going on with showers and irrigation, the water pressure and hence the ability to get volume out of a fire hydrant is very different — particularly in some of the older parts of the community and some of the higher elevation parts of that community.

“If we get into those areas and we are there at the wrong time — which normally fires always start at the wrong time — and we open the fire hydrant and there’s not enough pressure … then we have to take (extra) action to get the water we need to fight fire.”

In fact, just a few weeks ago, the department got an alert where the Village had an unusual usage day and they asked everybody to conserve water to give them time to rebuild the tanks.

TVVFD took action by conserving water during training events and only using it during real emergencies.

Some work-arounds due to lack of water include cooperation with other departments in the county. TVVFD often notifies other neighboring departments that have access to tankers, such as the Greenback Fire Department. GFD’s tankers have the ability to carry around 2,500 gallons of water to a fire.

The Tellico Fire Department also has an automatic mutual aid agreement with the Lenoir City Fire Department.

“We have the benefit of good neighbors,” Ballinger said. “Volunteer firemen and firemen in general don’t understand lines on maps that say this is your district. We understand if somebody needs help then we’re going.”

TIPS TO BEAT THE HEAT

While hot weather can’t be avoided, there are ways to reduce its negative effects.

“It’s the same thing that medical providers talk about … hydrate before you need to — if you’re thirsty it’s too late, so don’t get thirsty,” Ballinger said. “And then I think the other thing is that people just need to be aware that it’s hot: Play nine holes, don’t play 18.”

One of the biggest things Ballinger and the TVVFD encourages is that Tellico Villagers not wait to call for help. Oftentimes residents hesitate to call for aid in heat-related situations, and when help finally does arrive the initial symptoms have long since passed.

“It’s the basic fundamentals of staying hydrated, staying out of the sun and taking protective measures like listening to your body,” Ballinger said. “That’s what we’re preaching to our guys as firefighters and medical providers.

“It’s calling timeout and having somebody else take over what you’re doing before you get to the point where you’re on the ground and you’re useless to us and you’re now a patient.”