Welcome to our latest update from Gerton fire and rescue. We are still trying to recover from the damage sustained by our station from Hurricane Helene. We are still trying to get our septic system repaired. This has been a long and costly endeavor and we still have no resolution in site. The damage to the station was extensive and we have made many repairs, but still have much work to complete. We have been able to maintain our state of readiness and ability to respond, despite these setbacks. We also are housing EMS 71 from Henderson County EMS at our station. This EMS unit is staffed 24 hours a day and is staffed with at least one paramedic and one EMT. We are thankful the commissioners saw fit to allow this to happen. If you get a chance and see them, please thank them.

While the storm created many challenges, we were blessed to receive a great deal of support from the community and outside agencies. We now have a 2003 Custom Engine to ad to our firefighting capabilities. We purchased a firefighting Polaris at cost to help us get to those places where a truck may not fit. Kawasaki International donated four UTV for us to utilize. We have received some funding from different folks and we are so very appreciative.

Currently, we are waiting on the delivery of our new tanker. We were granted a grant to purchase this truck and make upgrades to other apparatus from the State. This tanker should be here in the next thirty days and we will get it in service as soon as possible. This tanker was ordered in March of 2024. Once it arrives, we will have more capabilities for our water capacity.

We were scheduled to have our 50^th anniversary last October. The hurricane put that on hold. We do plan to have something once we get the station back in shape. We ask that you keep up with us on Facebook and our web page. We have a new and improved web page and hope to use it more for information.

I want to thank everyone for their support over the last year. This has been a challenging time and we know everyone is tired, but there will come a day when things will start to look a little more normal than now. As always, we are here to serve you and we ask you call 911 if you need us.