SWVAFire2025_ConventionProgram

County Administrator’s Office 340 South Sixth Street

Wytheville VA 24382-2598 Telephone (276) 223-4500 Fax (276) 223-4515

June 2, 2025

Josh Stitt, President Southwest Virginia Firefighters Association

Chief Stitt:

Congratulations on hosting the 2025 Southwest Virginia Firefighters Association Conference. This is an honor for you and for Wythe County. I am looking forward to joining together with you and your members in Kingsport to network, see new apparatus, meet with vendors, share meals and enjoy the fellowship of the firefighting and EMS family. Wythe County is grateful for your service to the Barren Springs Fire Department and the fine men and women who answer the call to volunteer, serving your community with distinction. Wythe County is grateful to the 125+ volunteers who fight fire in our communities, along with Wythe County and Wytheville volunteer and career fire and EMS providers. Every county should be similarly proud of its first responders. I’m a native of Tazewell County, first certified as a firefighter with the Baptist Valley Fire Department. No matter where we’re from or how many fires we’ve fought, every corner of Southwest Virginia needs and wants firefighters who selflessly give of themselves, their time family and their safety and security to pack up, drive an apparatus, pick up a hose and go do their best to save lives and property in exchange for a cool hat, no pay and weird hours. I’m grateful to the Southwest Virginia Firefighters Association for creating the familial bonds that cross county and state lines, building a stronger community and enabling support between members. We’re all ultimately on the same team; we care about one another, our communities and our emergency service. As we meet, I hope your members take time to focus on their physical and mental health, considering that their community needs them for the long term. In my career, I’ve dealt with line-of-duty deaths, delivered a eulogy for a fallen firefighter, and listened to too many families who lost a first responder to cancer, injury, suicide, heart attack or accident. Those of us who manage public safety agencies – career or volunteer – want every single one of our first responders to go home safe and to effectively deal with the sights we’ve had to endure on scenes. Let’s all remember to look after one another, whether on the fireground or our home turf.

Enjoy the conference and I hope to see you there.

Sincerely,

Matthew C. Hankins Wythe County Deputy Administrator/Unit 1200

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