One big thank you

KELLOGG — Because of how the fire districts in the Silver Valley are designed, Shoshone County Fire District No.1 (SCFD1) firefighter John Miller says it is common for members of responding districts and departments to meet each other on calls for the first time.

Men and women, who do the same job less than 15 miles away from each other, routinely fight fire and save lives shoulder-to-shoulder with individuals they have never even exchanged pleasantries with.

On Aug. 29 though, all of our local emergency servicemen and women had the opportunity to really get-to-know one another when Kellogg was threatened by one of the largest structure fires in recent Shoshone County history.

In addition to a full response from our local firefighters, the small Idaho town’s call for help was answered by several surrounding agencies.

From St. Maries to Prichard/Murray and Mullan to Coeur d’Alene, crews came to assist anyway they could.

Because of this massive and truly impressive response to help our community, the city of Kellogg passed resolution #2017-01 that officially shows appreciation to all who helped limit the damage.

“It’s well deserved,” Kellogg Mayor Mac Pooler said.

“Even though we lost one of our oldest buildings in town, it could have been much worse,” he added.

Pooler stressed the passage of this resolution is intended to thank everyone, especially neighboring departments, that showed up that hot summer afternoon.

“If we didn’t have help from those outside agencies,” he explained, “there might not be an uptown.”

The resolution also thanks those not in uniform, but simply were in the area and wanted to help anyway they could.