SUMMERS COUNTY and MONROE COUNTY, W. Va. -On Saturday around 3:00 pm, Monroe County 911 got a call about a burning outbuilding on Cooks Run Road in Lindside, which they then discovered to be multiple structure fires.
The West Virginia State Police, MCSO Officer 608 Issacs, Station 1 Union VFD, Stations 7E Peterstown EMS, Station 3 Stat EMS, Station 7 Peterstown Fire, Station 51 Talcott VFD, Forest Hill VFD, Summers County VFD, Station 5 Ballard VFD, Richcreek VFD, Alderson VFD, and Ronceverte VFD all came to the aid of the Lindside VFD.
During this time, someone from the Greenbrier County 911 contacted her grandmother, Jean “Maw Maw” Ward, a cook at Lowell Market in Talcott, to help feed the firefighters. Richard Miller, director of Monroe County 911 Emergency Management and fire chief for the Lindside VFD, says this couldn’t have come at a better time, with everyone there “hungry, tired, and hot.”
“…You don’t get to sit down and finish a meal, or you don’t get to take a meal. It’s run, go to help, so this thing happened around three p-m in the afternoon, so lunch may have been skipped on a Saturday, and then dinner is far from… where you could find one,” says Miller.
The Lowell Market employees gathered sandwich supplies and drinks for those present, with Miller saying no one walked away hungry.
Ward says they’re no stranger to helping make meals during emergencies and didn’t hesitate to say she’d help the firefighters again.
“…You help your fellow man; it doesn’t matter, you know? Them guys needed something to eat, it was hot, you don’t know if somebody’s going to get hurt, if anybody was hurt, if it was a disaster, or what… they asked, my granddaughter asked, and I help her,” says Ward.
Ward helped to fed more than thirty firefighters, helping to give them the strength they needed to put out the blaze close to midnight. Despite this, she says she’s no hero, she’s just someone who likes to cook and is willing to help during a time of need.
Miller says he’s grateful for the support of everyone who gave of their time and resources to help save the residency. He says a county line never deters neighborly help in West Virginia and adds that if Greenbrier or Summers County are ever in need of assistance, Monroe County will be the first to help.
He says, if another emergency arises, and you would like to send supplies, you can contact the non-emergency number for your local 911 center who will coordinate the drop off.
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