To The Editor:
Once again we owe our wonderful Tisbury Fire Department a debt of gratitude.
My backyard has been flooded for several years from my neighbor’s stormwater run off. Unfortunately, I had to sue them to get them to address the problem, and they had until January 30 to fix it. They did not.
On Friday, knowing that heavy rains were coming on Saturday night, I asked them through their attorney to do something temporarily to abate the water flow until the work that was supposed to be done could be. That request was ignored.
On Saturday, I hired someone to build a sand berm along the fence line where the water comes in, knowing I would be in big trouble if something wasn’t done, as I still had flood waters in the yard from Wednesday. I thought all was okay until there was a breach in the berm and water poured into my yard, and it became a lake.
The water kept inching closer and closer to my basement and getting deeper and deeper. I had hoped that I had headed this off at the pass with the berm, but it did not hold. So, I called fire Chief John Schilling for help. He called back in five minutes, was here in 10, determined I indeed needed help and rallied the troops.
In short order seven or eight firefighters arrived with a generator and pumps and hoses. Chief Schilling and these good men were dragged from their beds and homes late on a Saturday night but arrived with kindness and compassion and did everything in their power to solve my problem. They are true heroes.
I did not get all of your names, but to those who showed up on Renear Street on Saturday night February 5, thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
The fact that you gentlemen were willing to volunteer to lose sleep to come to my rescue — knowing all the while that at any moment you could get called to a fire or auto accident and lose even more sleep — meant that I was able to get some.
You are indeed very honorable men, and our town is extremely lucky to have you and all the other members of the department who are willing to put yourself in harm’s way to come to the rescue, no matter the type of problem or the time of the problem. All of you went above and beyond the call of duty that night, and again I thank you.
Kim Teller
Vineyard Haven
