Volunteers risk it all to help others

CAPE ROYALE – On July 4, 2009, the Cape Area Volunteer Fire Department launched its area rescue program and have assisted in more than a dozen rescues on Lake Livingston since. Although one of their most recent rescues was tragic, most of the time they return people stranded on the lake safely and happily to shore. One of their more diffi cult jobs included the recovery of a 60-year-old Tennessee man who drowned near Pine Island on Sept. 2, when he reportedly fell off the back of a boat. Following a two day search, “Their boat capsized in choppy water during some bad weather. In our small outboard motor boat we battled waves over five feet tall and found them clinging to the bottom of their boat. We had to pull them to shore while they held onto their canoe-type boat,” Hall said.

“It was very frightening.” Hall said they need a bay boat so they can make rescues safer for their volunteers and for those who are in need of their services. Hall estimates that a bay boat would cost about $30,000. “Just by talking about it we’ve collected nearly half of that amount for a bay boat,” Hall said. “We don’t intend to go a fund raiser for the money. I believe we will get the donations.” According to Hall, there is only one other search and rescue boat on Lake Livingston – the Scenic Loop Search and Rescue out of Livingston. Helping in their attempt to get Cape Area Rescue started, Cape Royale Marina donated a boat slip with a boat lift. “This enables us to go almost immediately when notified of a crisis,” Hall said. The boat was donated by Hall. The Cape Area Volunteer Fire Department is the newest in San Jacinto County. It was previously known as part of the Coldspring Volunteer Fire Department. Hall’s father-in-law, Elgean Shields, serves as president of the board of both volunteer fire departments.

Not only is his father-in-law involved with the volunteer fire departments, but also his wife, Denise, is, making it a family affair for over nine years. A favorite program that Denise enjoys participating in is that of presenting fire safety tips annually to children at San Jacinto County Head Start. She also volunteers as a first responder in the county. “We joined the Coldspring Volunteer Fire Department and built a station at Cape Royale ad nine years later we are still doing it. We don’t do it for the excitement. It’s our way of giving something back to the community,” Hall said. If you would like to make a donation to the Cape Area Rescue Team for their new boat you can do so by mailing donations to P.O. Box 829, Coldspring, Texas, 77331. “If you can’t afford to donate money, you can volunteer your time. We need you,” Hall said.