Story By Joe Morris | Photography By Brian McCord
W
ith everything from safety programs for area schoolchildren to a new radio and tower system designed to allow for communication anywhere, Gillette’s public-safety officials have — literally — got you covered. Gillette and Campbell County have always been very supportive of fire and police efforts, and that’s translated into departments that are well trained and have the necessary equipment to deal with everyday concerns as well as major emergencies, should they arise. “We are finishing a replacement fire station in Wright, and then beginning another one in the CAM-PLEX area,” says Don Huber, chief of the Campbell County Fire Department. “Those are replacing ones that are in other places where we don’t have as many people now. We’re able to look at how the town, and the county, have grown, and then 34
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put in new stations so we’re near the most-populated areas.” The department operates 10 fire stations and a training center, and covers almost 5,000 square miles of territory, Huber says. Its combination of staff and volunteer firefighters also are heavily engaged in community safety programs, which include everything from business emergency preparedness to fire safety for schoolchildren, says Ron Smith, training chief. “We do industrial training for industries, because many of them are 40 or 50 miles out of town and it’s a long time before help can get to them,” Smith says. “We also work with mine rescue teams, and go into all the elementary schools with a basic fire-safety program. We know that works, because we have had fires where the children knew what to do through that training.” Over at the police station, the focus these days is on a