By Cathy Kuehner, Clarke County

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a three-part series highlighting Clarke County’s volunteer fire companies: Boyce Volunteer Fire Company, Blue Ridge Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company, and John H. Enders Fire Company & Rescue Squad. All need volunteers — firefighters and EMTs to run calls and individuals to help with events and fundraising — and all need the support of the entire community.

When lifelong county resident Lee Coffelt was 16, he joined his hometown volunteer fire company as soon as he was eligible. Recalling his volunteer training long ago, Coffelt said, “I was shown how to wear the gear, how to wear an air pack, how to follow a hose in the dark, and how to handle a hose and spray water. And someone said, ‘OK, you’re good to go.’” Today, volunteer firefighters receive hundreds of hours of specialized training, and the equipment — from the gear they wear to the apparatus they use — has also changed significantly over the decades.

Coffelt joined the Boyce Volunteer Fire Company in 1984. He became its chief eight years ago.

“The other big difference is that the work used to be all about fighting fires,” said Coffelt. “Now, fires are the least of it. The majority of calls are for EMS.”

Of the calls for emergency medical services, Coffelt noted, most are to homes and senior care facilities. “Some EMS calls are for auto accidents, but safety features in cars have improved over the years, greatly reducing the number of injuries and fatalities.”

According to the Clarke County Fire-Rescue 2020 Annual Report, the Boyce Volunteer Fire Company last year responded to 57 fire alarms, 10 structure fires, and 1 woodland fire. It responded to 78 motor vehicle accidents. As Coffelt said, EMS calls are greater. Last year, Boyce VFC responded to 42 breathing problems, 39 chest pain calls, 41 falls, 17 strokes, 14 incidents of cardiac arrest, and 2 overdoses.

Regardless of the number of calls, the response time is much more important to all the volunteers. Currently, Boyce has 25 operational members who can run calls, and 25 administrative members who handle a variety of tasks, including fundraising. Because of work, distance, or other obligations, not everyone is available all the time.

Ideally, Coffelt said, there should be 50 operational members trained to run calls and 50 administrative volunteers. “If we could double our roster of good people who consistently show up, we could get to the next level of getting first responders and apparatus out the door within minutes of a call.” Coffelt noted, “Clarke County is still the only jurisdiction in the region where the majority of service is provided by volunteers.”

He says this with both pride and hope that people will continue to step up to help their neighbors. Training is provided at no cost for community members interested in volunteering, and Clarke County offers a 50 percent personal property tax discount for any county resident who volunteers with a fire company.

The idea of a Boyce volunteer fire company began in April 1959, when its residents recognized that nearly half of all fires occurred in the southern half of the county. Community fundraising followed. By July 1959, a $500 fire siren was installed on an old building, and the newly formed Boyce Volunteer Fire Company kept its first firetruck in the gas station across from where the firehouse sits today on U.S. 340. The community continued to raise money for a fire hall, which opened in March 1961 with its siren relocated to the building, and community members continue to help raise much-needed funds.

“The fundraising that began in 1959 laid the foundation for how we still conduct business as a nonprofit organization,” Coffelt said. “We do not want to be a financial burden to 
taxpayers or the county.” While Boyce VFC does receive annual funding from Clarke County, over half its annual revenues come from fundraising efforts. Weekly bingo games at the social hall on Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons are a major fundraising source for the fire company. In addition, rentals of the social hall, chicken dinners, a fall bazaar, and individual donations all contribute to covering operational costs.

Boyce Volunteer Fire Company President Matt Hoff explained, “Running a fire company is an expensive endeavor.” Boyce is currently paying down debt owed for the social hall, which is in addition to standard operating costs such as electricity, phone, and water. The company’s next big expense will be a new pumper truck. A fire truck can cost in excess of $600,000 and an ambulance more than $250,000.

So, after 37 years, why does Coffelt continue to volunteer and run calls? “I believe in our mission — community members providing critical services to their neighbors in their time of need. I am totally behind that.”

Read more Boyce Volunteer Fire Company history in John Hudson’s book, “Welcome to Boyceville,” which is available at Boyce Town Hall. Find Clarke County’s 2020 Fire & EMS Annual Report at clarkecounty.gov. For more information about volunteering, donating, or fundraising events, follow Boyce Volunteer Fire Company on Facebook, or contact the Boyce VFC at (540) 837-1228 or bvfctreas@gmail.com.

Keep Your Seed Dry And Your Bird Feeders Clean
Story and illustration by Doug Pifer

Feeding the birds has helped people young and old to get through this pandemic winter. For many home-bound Americans, this backyard hobby has helped lighten the loneliness and depression brought about by the isolation of the pandemic quarantine. Some nursing home residents I know consider watching the antics of birds and squirrels at the feeders outside their windows the high point of their day. Some of them had no interest in birds until I hung a feeder outside their window. Now they have learned to recognize different birds by species, and in some cases as individuals. One lady has even given “her” birds and squirrels individual names. 

But in recent months, all these bird feeders may have brought the birds an epidemic of their own. Citizens across the country have been finding dead or dying birds in their yards. Experts have linked these deaths to diseases the birds picked up at backyard feeding stations. 

If not properly maintained, bird feeders can create an environment that encourages the spread of disease and parasites. When bird seed in feeders gets wet, it will soon grow fungus and bacteria, potentially spreading disease among any birds that visit there. The same thing happens when spilled seed accumulates under the feeders.

Jennifer Riley, DVM, is the chief veterinarian at Blue Ridge Wildlife Center in Millwood Virginia. In the winter 2021 edition of her organization’s newsletter, The Ridge Line, Riley reports a recent dramatic increase in sick mourning doves and house finches brought to the center. Most of them, she believes, have picked up fungal, viral, and parasitic infections at bird feeders.

Riley reports many birds exhibit swollen eyelids with a crusty discharge. This highly contagious form of conjunctivitis progresses to temporary blindness. Infected birds have trouble finding food and escaping danger in the wild, but they soon recover if rescued and kept isolated from each other at the center. And, doves and finches have come to the center with trichomoniasis and Avian parvovirus, two deadly and highly contagious illnesses. Certain other diseases birds get from unsanitary feeders are zoonotic, meaning they can be transmitted not just among the birds, but from birds to humans. 

The solution, Riley concludes, is to clean bird feeders regularly with soap and water, followed by a one part bleach and 9 parts water solution. Then rinse the feeder and allow it to dry thoroughly before refilling.

Feeders made of non-porous material — metal or plastic — are much easier to sanitize than wood. Clean bird feeders every two weeks. In summer, wash hummingbird feeders with soap and water every three days.

Should you find a sick or dead bird near your bird feeders, stop feeding the birds for three weeks while you disinfect and clean all feeders and bird baths. Make a habit of raking up and discarding any spilled food under your feeders, using a dog poop scooper.

To learn more about how to maintain clean bird feeders, waterers, and housing, check out Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology’s website www.allaboutbirds.org.

Because the invasive, destructive Spotted Lanternfly has established significant reproducing populations in Clarke County, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) has expanded its Spotted Lanternfly Quarantine to include Clarke County.

Quarantine requires businesses that ship materials from quarantined areas to obtain Spotted Lanternfly Permits if their shipments are going to un-infested areas. By mid March 2021, VDACS’ Spotted Lanternfly quarantine area will be Clarke, Frederick, and Warren counties and the City 
of Winchester.

Businesses must complete training and submit their training credentials and completed SLF Permit Applications to spottedlanternfly@vdacs.virginia.gov.

Find information about SLF training, permit application, and inspection statements at http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov//plant-industry-services.shtml?fbclid=IwAR0ZxaKRfv_MB00DOjjNeES_GTXrvnTC6Ns24-Kh1KuHom3JCDXyF7DRUC0.

All residents and business owners are encouraged to learn more about the Spotted Lanternfly and other invasive pests and plants. The Virginia Cooperative Extension also has a website dedicated to Spotted Lanternfly identification at https://ext.vt.edu/agriculture/commercial-horticulture/
spotted-lanternfly.html.

If you believe you have found a Spotted Lanternfly, kill it, and then take the specimen to your local Virginia Cooperative Extension office, or send a photo to Extension Agent Mark Sutphin at mark.sutphin@vt.edu. Provide the address of the location where the insect was found. VDACS and the Cooperative Extension are tracking the insect’s movement in order to mitigate its infestation and destruction to crops. 

The Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) was first found in Frederick County, Va., in January 2018. By November 2019, it was in western Clarke County near the Frederick County border at Opequon Creek. The insect was found in Berryville in August 2020. The SLF is native to China, India, and Vietnam. It was introduced into South Korea in 2006 and dramatically spread to become a major agricultural pest. It was first found in the U.S. in 2014 at a Pennsylvania business that imports stone products.

While the SLF prefers to feed on Tree of Heaven, also called Ailanthus Tree, it will feed on more than 100 types of plants, including grapes, peaches, hops, and a variety of other crops. The SLF has also been reported on a range of ornamentals and can become a nuisance pest to homeowners.

The Spotted Lanternfly changes appearance quite a bit between egg mass and nymph and nymph to mature adult. Nymphs are black and white before becoming red, black and white. The adults have multi-colored wings, but are poor fliers. They are considered plant hoppers.

The insects are also hitchhikers, traveling on anything they can, including cars, trucks, and trains, which is why VDACS created the Spotted Lanternfly Quarantine. Spotted Lanternfly quarantine programs currently exist in a number of states, including New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, where the insect was first found, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Find more information at the USDA National Invasive Species Information Center, https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/terrestrial/invertebrates/
spotted-lanternfly.

Information and images provided by Clarke County.