Breaux Bridge Chamber honors area firefighters

The Breaux Bridge Area Chamber of Commerce gave recognition to St. Martin Parish volunteer firefighters at their annual banquet at Pat’s Atchafalaya Club Feb. 5. The fascinating history of volunteer fire fighting in the parish was told in a video presentation as well as by guest speakers.
In the video presentation, Breaux Bridge businessman Ray Pellerin, who was involved in the establishment of the parish-wide department in 1965, described a parish that was very poorly protected at that time. The town of Cecilia only had a converted VW microbus as a fire truck, and some towns had no protection at all. Over the next three years, 11 fire stations were built and 15 trucks purchased. Pellerin referred to it as the best thing he has ever done.
Fifty years later the district, still the only parish-wide volunteer fire department in the state, has more than 240 volunteers and a state-of-the-art training program, as well as a top-grade fire truck fleet that represents an investment of more than $7 million.
Parish President Guy Cormier expressed thanks on behalf of the 50,000 residents of the parish whose homes, businesses and even lives have been saved by the selfless efforts of these unpaid heros. He also gave recognition to the employers of these volunteers, who make the necessary sacrifices to allow them to drop everything and go when called.
New Breaux Bridge Mayor Ricky Calais told about a very personal reason for his own appreciation of the volunteer firefighters. A few years ago he got a call that his 95–year–old mother’s house was on fire, he arrived on the scene to find the situation well under control with his mother, her possessions and house all saved by the volunteers.
Louisiana State Fire Marshal H. “Butch” Browning reported that in Louisiana today, volunteer firefighters answer an emergency call every 24 seconds. He also said that the average age of volunteer firefighters has risen from about 24 to more than 48 years in the past 30 years. He expressed the need for more young volunteers to keep the successful tradition of volunteer fire fighting moving into the future.
Both the outgoing Breaux Bridge Area Chamber of Commerce president, Tom Zaunbrecher, and the incoming president, Joseph Richard “Rick” Pearson, described the Chamber’s efforts over the past year and plans and priorities for the current year. One of the important priorities the Chamber is the Save the Bridge Project. The iconic landmark is in need of a restoration which is estimated to cost $500,000 to $700,000. Businesses and individuals who wish to help should search Breaux Bridge Save the Bridge on Facebook.