After a fire destroyed a rescue truck and damaged the entire Poland Volunteer Fire Co. firehouse Sunday, Fire Chief Scott Burritt has a whole new perspective on how a fire affects someone’s life.
“We see fires on a regular basis, we go to people’s car fires, we go to people’s house fires, to brush fires and that type of stuff,” he said. “But it puts it in a new light, it really brings it back down to a personal level because now you can identify with what someone, not only initially has to deal with, but what the future holds for them and what’s in store for them to try to recover their own personal lives. … It gives me more empathy for those people.” During the restoration and cleaning process, which is sure to be lengthy, the fire company’s other station in the village is handling calls while firefighters from Barneveld, Deerfield and Newport are available for mutual aid.
While the investigation is ongoing into what officially caused the blaze, Burritt said the fire started in one of the trucks Sunday afternoon, and because the firehouse is not staffed full time, no one was there.