NAPLES, Fla. /Florida Newswire/ — The Bible Life Church in Florida is donating three mobile homes on its property to the East Naples/Golden Gate Fire Control and Rescue District. It's a win-win partnership and the fire department has already used the trailers for smoke drills, confined space training and cross-training paramedics with Collier EMS.
"We've created a campus for them," Pastor Paul Heier says. "There's classroom space and it's available for anything they might need for training or for an actual emergency. If they ever need to land here, stage vehicles or resources here, it's all available – free of charge."
In fact, the Florida Forest Service recently landed one of their helicopters during a three-day training," Heier says. "The helicopter lowered a bucket into the church's lakes, circled the property and dumped the water."
Firemen from several departments interacted with the helicopter crew, inspected the helicopter and bucket system up-close, and strategized about how to work more closely during wild fires.
Richard Ramos, the church's assistant pastor, said that it was awesome to see the church serving as a resource center for the community.
"We don't want to get in their way, but we do want them to know we're here if they need us," Ramos says.
Heier adds that, "As Jesus taught, we want to 'love our neighbors.' And one of the best ways we can do that is to support our community and those who risk their lives to protect us."
Heier was a missionary in a rural area of Central America and served as a remote medic to outlying villages. He understands the stress of being a first responder and is eager to support rescue personnel in any way he can.
On October 31, at an upcoming Family Fun Night ( http://www.lovenaples.com/familyfunnight.html ), a free public event hosted by the Bible Life Church, the fire department will give an extrication demonstration using the Jaws of Life. Maneuvers will be equivalent to what people see in the movies. They hope this will raise awareness and cause people to drive with more caution. Bud Gruber, owner of Bald Eagle Towing, has donated two vehicles for the demonstrations.
"Using the trailers and the church property has helped us to have legitimate training exercises," Rusty Godette, training captain, says. "Since we don't have to worry about breaking anything in the trailers, we can do the real thing. And, using the classrooms afterwards is a huge bonus too. "We're so thankful for people who help us to create a safe and clean environment where we can do what we need to do. It's allowed us to safely train without being a distraction to our community."
For more information about Bible Life Church, visit: http://www.LoveNaples.com/ .
Contact: Paul Heier, Bible Life Church, 239-628-9596.
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