Dear editor:
On the night of April 11, a young woman’s life was saved on Little Horn Road in Big Horn County, Montana — and the volunteers of the Tongue River Fire Protection District deserve recognition for their role in that outcome.
When the call came in for a high-mechanism single-vehicle crash with ejection, our district responded out of jurisdiction to assist.
What happened on scene has since been described to me in remarkable terms by Wyoming Regional EMS: but for the efforts of the Tongue River responders — and specifically the work of Captain Bob Miller and Firefighter Hunter Pope — EMS would not have been able to perform the precision care required to save this young woman’s life.
Wyoming Regional EMS told us the department’s intervention went above and beyond what is expected of volunteers, and absolutely led to the saving of her life. That is extraordinary praise, and it was earned.
I want to publicly thank Captain Bob Miller and Firefighter Hunter Pope for the skill, composure, and decisive action they demonstrated that night. I also want to recognize the full crew who responded alongside them: Hunter O’Neil, Andy Barnes, Isaiah Miller, and Tessa Ross. Every one of them contributed to the outcome.
As of this writing, the young woman remains hospitalized and faces a long recovery. But she is alive — thanks to the efforts of Tongue River Fire Protection District and Wyoming Regional EMS working together when it mattered most.
Volunteer firefighters train on their own time, leave their families in the middle of the night, and drive into situations most people spend their lives avoiding. They do it for neighbors, and sometimes — as on April 11 — for complete strangers across a state line. Please join me in thanking them.
Sincerely,
Jeff Barron
Tongue River Volunteer Fire Department Chief
