Lake Anna Connections

“We typically try to have personnel staff the squad from about 6 or 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. However, sometimes we have crews that are only able to commit to an 8-hour shift,” Fialo said. “However, even an eight- hour shift relieves some of the pressure on the career staff, since we try to make those shifts during the daytime hours or from 6 p.m. at night until midnight or after, when most of the calls seem to occur.” Louisa County is divided into geographic coverage areas designating which fire company or rescue squad is the “first due” unit – basically, the territory it’s responsible for responding to calls in. “We have the largest first due area,” Fialo said. “We cover both the Louisa (1) and Trevilians (6) districts – the area around the town of Louisa and northwest to Gordonsville, as well as west towards the county line.” Last year, the various Louisa County units responded to over 6,000 calls for assistance, each one averaging two to three hours from start to finish because of the distance to the medical facilities. “However, even an eight-hour shift relieves some of the pressure on the career staff, since we try to make those shifts during the daytime hours or from 6 p.m. at night until midnight or after, when most of the calls seem to occur.” LAKE ANNA CONNECTIONS | FALL |WINTER 2020 17