Bullard Fire Department receives donation of drinking water
Jul. 17—Bullard Fire Department recently received a donation of canned emergency drinking water from brewer Anheuser-Busch to help keep its responders hydrated as they battle wildfires this season. The donation, consisting of two pallets of water, were dropped off July 10 by a local Anheuser-Busch wholesaler partner.
"Firefighters lose a tremendous amount of fluid during high-intensity response such as battling wildfires. Proper hydration is critical to ensure the safety of our firefighters and keep them performing at their best," says Bullard Fire Chief Peter Riley. "Thanks to this water donation from Anheuser-Busch and the National Volunteer Fire Council, we now have the resources to keep our firefighters hydrated and ready to respond."
The water will help maintain firefighters' hydration during long incidents or disasters such as wildfires, which is a major safety concern for many departments.
The water was donated by Anheuser-Busch through a partnership with the National Volunteer Fire Council. Anheuser-Busch has a longstanding tradition of pausing beer production each year to provide emergency drinking water and supplies for disaster relief efforts. The production pause enables the company to apply its production and logistics expertise to can clean, safe drinking water that is ready to distribute when disaster strikes. Since 1988, the brewer has donated more than 90 million cans of emergency drinking water to communities impacted by natural disasters and other crises.
Building on this commitment, the brewer teamed up with the NVFC — the leading nonprofit membership association representing the interests of the volunteer fire, emergency medical, and rescue services — in 2019 to provide emergency drinking water to help firefighters stay hydrated and healthy when responding to wildfires and large incidents. To date, the program has donated nearly 6.5 million cans of water to more than 1,400 volunteer fire departments across nearly all 50 states.
The Bullard Fire Department has served the Bullard area since 1955 and is a recognized 501(c)4 non-profit, directed by a local board of directors. The department covers 95 square miles of district in both Smith and Cherokee counties, with a search and rescue boat that is responsible for an additional 16 square miles of Lake Palestine.
The Bullard Fire Department responds to an average of over 1,100 incidents a year.
Learn more about the donation program at nvfc.org/water.
