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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 20, 1993                   TAG: 9303220374
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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VOLUNTEERS ARE PROFESSIONALS

IN RESPONSE to the March 3 editorial, "Fire! Fire! And 33 minutes later . . . "

Clearly, there are some issues that need to be addressed regarding the recent 911 incident, but my feeling is that character assassination against volunteers is not the answer.

I assume by the editor's comments that he really does not have all the facts as to the amount of training involved with our volunteers. I feel the urgency to let the public know that volunteers are professionals.

There is much training, which is usually on the weekends when volunteers are off from their respective "paid" jobs. These training sessions include Firefighter I, II and III, aerial ladder operation, hazardous materials, and vertical rescue, just to mention a few. These classes involve classroom time and on-hands training as well.

I feel that Roanoke County residents are blessed to have people willing to give of their time for this training and sometimes strenuous work, for which they are not paid. Often times the public has the misguided notion that volunteers have nothing else to do or that they do not have families, which is not the case. Their dedication to their community should not go unnoticed. DONNA H. McFALL ROANOKE

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