Blazing a trail
Volunteers from White Shield form fire department
BY JAMES C. FALCON
editors@bhgnews.com
The creation of a volunteer firefighting team in White Shield will inevitably make the community more independent and timely in fighting fires.
“We do have a lot of new buildings coming up,” said Fred Fox, an MHA tribal councilman and representative of the tribe’s White Shield East Segment. “It’s time for us to have our own volunteer fire department.”
Fire departments from Garrison and Parshall are helpful in fighting fires in White Shield and are quick to respond, but the call times – it ranges anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes – can be crucial when fires are concerned.
By the time fire crews come from either town, the fire “is pretty much fully involved,” explained Tony Gonzalez, a firefighter with the city of Bismarck and an enrolled member of the MHA Nation. Having its own fire department would make the community more self-sufficient and also protect the property and infrastructure the tribe has invested in, he added.
It’s time for White Shield to “start taking care of their own,” said Gonzalez, who is originally from White Shield.
Earlier this year, Gonzalez helped to get the ball rolling for the fire department training in White Shield, Fox said.
Through his connections, Gonzalez set up training that included a team of firefighting instructors from Bismarck, Dickinson, Mandan and Minot to train the group of a little more than one dozen volunteers.
“This was the first time (the North Dakota Firefighter Association) ever worked with or taught any tribal organization in the state,” Gonzalez noted. “That was a first there.”
The first training helped to “get peoples feet wet and give them some type of experience,” Gonzalez said. “That way, when we go into our Firefighter I and Firefighter II (training), they’ll have something to grasp on to.”
