SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Volunteer Fire Department responded to 13 medical calls and one wildland fire over the long Fourth of July weekend. The string of calls started Friday, June 30 and kept the 16 volunteers responding at all hours.
Seeley Lake Fire Chief Bob Vanden Heuvel said he was expecting the call volume to increase just because of the number of people in town. The volunteers were on high alert and ready to respond.
The department faced three calls within a half an hour Sunday afternoon. While the majority of the resources were helping with the rescue from Morrell Falls, other medical personnel responded to a medical/public assist call with a four-wheeler at the Homestead Cabin on Double Arrow Ranch.
Again early Monday evening two more medical calls came in one at Blanchard Creek Road and the other at Scotty Brown Bridge, both on Highway 200.
“The second ambulance is living up to the responsibility that we have,” said Vanden Heuvel. “Instead of just saying we can’t cover that, we are able to meet the obligation that I feel we have to the community. It’s also just peace of mind. We were tapped out on people [with the Morrell Falls incident], but then we had a second showing of people to handle [the multiple calls].”
A wildland fire was also called in at the Seeley Lake Elementary playground Sunday during the two medical calls. The caller contained the fire caused by fireworks igniting the wood chips with buckets of water and a shovel until firefighters arrived.
“It’s the people that help out that have some savvy that keep our community safe [and buy us a little time] when we do get busy,” said Vanden Heuvel. “That’s the difference between being a success and having a big failure.”
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