Fire department dedicated

Several years ago a lightning strike close to our house set a large tree on fire. Seeing the smoke and flames my wife contacted the Bigfork Fire Department while I tried to stop the flames from spreading.  Despite difficulty finding our house,  several trucks and volunteer firefighters soon showed up and quickly put the fire out.  The entire crew impressed me with their thoroughness and professionalism.  

Heeding their suggestion, I purchased several  reflective street number signs from the Bigfork fire station and installed them at the entrance to our driveway.  I strongly recommend others do this as it also helps visitors and delivery vehicles find driveways when it is dark outside.

Several days ago my wife and I were suddenly startled  when all the smoke alarms in our house went off.  I quickly checked each room and  thankfully, there was no smoke.  False alarm.  The problem was the alarm system took over the one phone line into our house and without cell phone service here, the alarm company couldn't contact us until we got all the alarms shut off.  By then it was too late.  The Bigfork Fire Department was already dispatched to our house.  What amazed me was how quickly they arrived.  Once again, the crew of four men displayed professionalism in handling the situation.     

We are truly fortunate as a rural community to have such a fine volunteer fire department here.  It's easy to take these dedicated people for granted until you really need them.  That's just one of the many reasons my wife and I chose to retire here in Bigfork.  

— John Merlette, Bigfork