
Ridgway Fire Fighter Kevin Anstrom Jr. is part of a group of twelve (12) Elk County residents on an humanitarian relief effort In North Carolina to assist those still in need of help after Hurricane Helene.
For months, the group, led by Priority Crane Rental in Prospect PA, has been focused on what they could do to assist. https://prioritycranerentalspa.com On Sunday January 26th, the group departed for Spruce Pine NC which is northeast of Ashville in Mitchell County. Priority Crane is sending one of their mammoth cranes, and the group is also trailering a skid steerer with multiple attachments, an excavator, dump trailers, a trailer full of hand tools, and some surplus firefighting equipment.
The group is working with a relief organization called Operation Anchor. In cooperation with this relief effort, The Ridgway Fire Department looked at donating surplus firefighting equipment to fire departments in that area. The equipment to be donated would include items not longer used, and/or replace by newer technology, yet still functional.
Spruce Pine is close to Burnsville NC, and that happens to be the home town of Lanie Gardner who was the closing act at The Ridgway Fire Departments music festival 2024. Kevin, who booked the talent for Rock Valley Revival reached out to Lanie’s Management Team and asked for a contact from a local NC Fire Department so surplus equipment could be donated. Within an hour of reaching out, he had contact information and worked with a NC Fire Chief.
On Monday, Kevin and the others dropped off the surplus equipment at the the Newdale Fire Department in Burnsville, NC. The donation of surplus equipment is the simple side of this story. Having a group of individuals, largely self-funded, willing to take heavy equipment, personal tools, and a willingness to help is the far bigger story.
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