ECFD
The Ellis County Fire Department recently received a donation of canned emergency drinking water from leading brewer Anheuser-Busch to help keep its responders hydrated as they battle wildfires this season. On July 20, more than 2,350 cans of drinking water were dropped off by Anheuser-Busch wholesaler partner, Wil Fischer, Hays.
The water will help maintain firefighters’ hydration during long incidents or disasters such as wildfires, which is a major safety concern for many departments.
“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,” said Darin Myers, fire chief.
“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 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 National Volunteer Fire Council – 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.
Learn more about the program at www.nvfc.org/water.
The Ellis County Fire Department responds to all fire, rescue, and hazmat incidents located throughout Ellis County. The department is staffed by two full-time chief officers and assisted with 95 volunteer firefighters. The department responds out of six different fire companies located in Catharine, Victoria, Hays, Ellis, Schoenchen, and Munjor.