Summer is officially not quite here, but close enough that Goshen-area residents are in a summertime frame of mine.
School’s out, which for many means family vacations anticipated or under way. Visits to municipal pools or local lakes are common.
Plus, the Elkhart County 4-H Fair starts in a month and a few days. 4-H’ers are readying projects for the annual festival, the non-4-H public looking forward to elephant ears, midway rides and perhaps the return of Styx to the main fair stage.
SUMMERTIME IS A GOOD TIME in Elkhart County, but maybe less so for Elkhart County firefighters. If the police scanner traffic heard at The Goshen News is any indication, a seasonal scourge has returned.
We hear calls for rural firefighters to respond to field fires. Sometimes there’s an added urgency to the dispatches when the fires are drawing closer to dwellings or other structures. The calls are especially worrisome when rainfall has been notable for its absence. That time is now.
SOMETIMES FIELD or ditch fires are the fault of no one, unless we opt to blame rail traffic. An unintentional spark is all it takes to ignite an emergency-level blaze in arid conditions.
Too often, though, our firefighters are called to fires that are frustrating because they could have been prevented so easily.
These fires stem from careless burning — burn-barrel, maintenance-related, etc. Fires no one thought would get out of control until the moment they did.
HOW TO COMBAT the problem? The solution shouldn’t be calling 911. It needs to involve common sense, the recognition that fire plus dead vegetation plus wind equals danger.
If only all the world’s problems had such an easy fix.
Opinion
Common sense could help stop field fires
- Opinion
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Like it or not, Sheriff is going to speak freely
Elkhart County Sheriff Brad Rogers has taken heat the past couple weeks after he commented during a political rally in downtown South Bend that he would not enforce proposed future gun-control legislation within his jurisdiction.
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Goshen neighborhood stands together on north side
Sometimes a news photographer is at the optimum location at exactly the right time. Goshen News staffer Sam Householder was in such a spot Wednesday.
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We just can’t thank our moms enough
The purpose of this editorial is quite simple. We just want to say, “Thanks, mom.” And by “mom” we mean all of the great mothers in our community who have gone above and beyond to lead the way in the development of their children.
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Letter carriers help to Stamp Out Hunger
There’s still time to help someone you probably don’t know.
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Farmers are positive this will be the year
Farmers and Cub fans have something in common. They are eternally positive and expect a better season next year.
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It's time to spruce up the Maple City
This is the season and today is the day, finally.
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Smooth sailing for this year’s regular session
The final gavel has fallen on the 2013 regular session of Indiana’s General Assembly. During the 14-week session, our lawmakers passed nearly 300 pieces of legislation, including the state’s $30 billion biennial budget that contains the largest tax cut in state history.
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Palm Sunday tornadoes a reminder of sudden danger
It was a beautiful day, most people around these parts who can remember will tell you. It was one of those near-perfect, early spring days, they would likely say, a stark contrast to what early evening would bring on April 11, 1965.
Yes, the Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1965, is still very vivid in our local history five decades later. Those were days before Doppler Radar, 24-7 cable television, countywide siren warning systems and even seatbelts in most cars. So, when afternoon turned to early evening, many local residents had little or no warning that killer tornadoes were nearly on top of them. -
Graduation is always a great achievement
While many of us have been waiting patiently – some not so patiently – for spring to finally show up in Northern Indiana, students throughout the area have been busy working on term papers, taking tests and ordering caps and gowns.
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Carl Weaver has inspired many at GHS
Goshen High School teacher Carl Weaver has created one of the most successful science program in the United States, and we, on behalf of the thousands of students who have experienced the program, thank him.
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