By Fiona de Young, Community Relations Manager
As we come upon the most festive time of year, we join our community in celebrating a hard-earned holiday season. Now is a time to rejoice, to toast to the joy and hope of the season and hopefully, get some much-needed rest.
We have spent the better part of the year sharing safety information with you, and these are things we still want you to keep in mind as you begin heating your home for winter and cooking holiday favorites. Always check smoke detectors and keep flammables away from the stovetop. If you need help with your smoke detectors, call us at (520) 647-3760. For additional safety tips, check out our social media pages @RinconFire on Twitter or Facebook, and Nextdoor, where we have an agency page. We would love to hear from you.
We are grateful for all the food donations that came into the fire stations during the pandemic; this truly lifted our spirits and helped us stay connected in a time of social distancing. We look forward to giving back to our community in return. Our dedicated crews will be seen volunteering at St. Rita’s Holiday Food Baskets and Vail’s (Virtual) Tis the Season (p.s. we know Santa will make an appearance on the fire engine).
We have some good news to share as well. Last month the Rincon Valley Fire District launched a brand-new station alerting system. In addition to our Class 2 Rating from the ISO, the new system will take us into the next chapter of Vail’s growing demand for emergency services. “We’ve had explosive growth in the Vail area and one of the best ways to keep up with this is to invest in technology,” said Fire Chief Jayme Kahle. “In the last five years, we’ve seen our call volume increase by 23 percent.” Station alerting is the latest technology in dispatch systems, which helps us get to your home faster with more data available from the network. The special dial tone is also proven to reduce cardiac stress, which is one of the biggest health risks to firefighters.
In short, we have so much to be thankful for, not the least of which is the safe return of our crews who recently completed two assignments at the California wildfires. As always, from all of us at RVFD we wish you good health and safety this holiday season. We are here to discuss fire safety concerns with you.
Fiona de Young recently joined the Rincon Valley Fire District as its new Community Relations Manager. In this role, she is responsible for managing the District’s community engagement and media relations. Before joining the District, Fiona worked as an aide to U.S. Senator Martha McSally. She holds a Master’s Degree in Information Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Fiona loves hiking in the beautiful mountains of Southern Arizona.
