RACINE, W.Va. – Neighbors helping neighbors in a time of need. That’s what happened Tuesday morning in Boone County when a natural gas outage impacted 50 families in the Fosterville area.
A spokesperson with Dominion Hope said one of the company’s suppliers suffered an interruption in service. They had crews working on the problem promptly.
Meanwhile, a lot of folks were sitting in cold homes because they rely on natural gas for heat. That’s why the Racine Volunteer Fire Department opened up their building as a warming station to anyone who needed a place to get out of the cold.
“We don’t want them to stay home. We want them to come on down. Our doors are open,” Racine VFD Lt. Brandon Miller said.
The fire department didn’t have natural gas either but that wasn’t a problem.
“We have electric heat here. That’s how we’re able to operate. And in the event of a power outage, we run on back-up generators. So we can provide constant help.”
Miller said there was never a question the VFD would pitch in.
“We’ve opened up the doors to everyone in the community. This is their building. They’re the ones that brought us here and keep us running,” explained Miller. “We want to give back all that we can!”
The volunteers set up tables and chairs, put on several pots of coffee and cocoa and made folks feel right at home. It was a chance to catch up with neighbors and meet some new members of the community.
Miller stressed their warming station had room for more than just the families impacted in Fosterville.
“Even if they’re from outside the Racine area, they’re over here visiting or they have family over here or whatever means that brings them this direction, they are absolutely more than free to stop by and hang out for a little while,” according to Miller.
He stressed the department is about more than fighting fires and responding to car accidents. Their mission is to help the community no matter the situation.