Avera Fire & Rescue

05/25/2026

05/19/2026

🎉 Today, we would like to wish Assistant Chief Gary Kitchens a very Happy Birthday! 🚒🎂

Thank you for always being a great and willing leader within the department. Whether it’s on scene or during training, Assistant Chief Kitchens is always ready to step up and lead. Your dedication to both the department and the community does not go unnoticed, and we truly appreciate everything you do. ❤️

We hope you have a wonderful day and a fantastic birthday! 🥳🎈

05/16/2026

🎉 We would like to wish Firefighter Zackary Sapp a very Happy Birthday! 🚒🎂

Thank you for everything you bring to the department and for sharing the knowledge and experience you’ve gained from other departments. Your dedication and contributions are truly appreciated. ❤️

We hope you have a wonderful day and a very special birthday! 🥳🎈

05/12/2026

We are truly grateful to serve alongside the dedicated men and women of the Wrens Fire Department. As demonstrated last night, through strong teamwork, leadership, and training, WFD and AFD were able to safely and successfully extinguish the fire while saving the majority of the structure.

This incident was a true example of teamwork in action. Three primary teams operated on the scene: an interior attack team, a roof ventilation team, and a unified command team. Each team included members from both departments working side by side. In addition, both Fire Chiefs worked together in unified command to ensure the safe and effective suppression of the fire.

As mentioned below, please take a moment to check your smoke alarms to ensure they are properly installed and functioning correctly.

Earlier this morning at approximately 2:09 AM, Wrens Fire Rescue, along with Stapleton Fire Department and Avera Fire Department, were dispatched to a reported structure fire.

Wrens Engine 1 arrived on scene at 2:13 AM, marking a rapid 4-minute response time, and found a single-story residential structure with smoke and fire showing with approximately 50% involvement. Wrens Engine 2, Avera Engine 3 and Tanker 3 also responded.

Through the quick actions and coordinated efforts of all responding personnel, crews were able to rapidly bring the fire under control and prevent further extension of the incident.

Wrens Fire Rescue would like to thank Avera Fire Rescue, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Wrens Police Department, Jefferson County 911 Dispatchers and Gold Cross EMS for their assistance and support during this incident.

As always, we encourage all residents to ensure smoke alarms are properly installed and functioning within their homes.

05/12/2026

🎉 Today, we would like to wish a very special Happy Birthday to Firefighter Levi Summy! 🚒🎂

Thank you for your time, dedication, and commitment to the department and community. We truly appreciate the new ideas, tactics, and skills you bring to our trainings and team. Thank you as well for always being there when your community needs you most. ❤️

We hope you have an amazing day and a very special birthday! 🥳🎈

05/10/2026

To the moms who hold everything together with strength, grace, and endless love — today is for you. 🌸

Thank you for every sacrifice, every late night, every comforting hug, and every moment spent putting others before yourselves. Your love blooms in the lives you touch every single day.

Wishing a beautiful and love-filled Mother’s Day to all the incredible moms, bonus moms, grandmothers, and mother figures out there. 💐🩷

05/03/2026

Yesterday was a great day for the Avera Fire Department. We had the opportunity to spend time with our community and raise funds to support the department. Most importantly, we want to thank everyone who helped make this event such a success.

First, we would like to extend a huge thank you to Brown Cattle Farm. We are incredibly grateful for their generous donation of beef, which made the delicious hamburgers served yesterday possible. For anyone interested in high-quality beef, be sure to check out their page for options and pricing (link in comments).

Next, we would like to thank Walden’s Church for inviting us to be part of this event. We truly value the strong relationship we’ve built between the church and our department. A special thank you as well to Casey Mumford for helping organize the event and bringing both groups together to make it happen.

We also want to recognize our dedicated and hardworking firefighters who helped plan and run the event. Their commitment to supporting and improving the department does not go unnoticed.

Finally—and most importantly—thank you to our community. We are so grateful to everyone who came out to support both the Avera Fire Department and Walden’s Church. Because of you, the event was a huge success for both organizations. We truly appreciate your support from the bottom of our hearts.

We look forward to hosting more events like this in the future, so stay tuned… we might just see you again in October 😉

05/02/2026

We are officially SOLD OUT!!!

Thank you to everyone who showed up and supported us today!

05/02/2026

We have BBQ sauce for $10/bottle!!

05/02/2026

We’ve got some neat vehicles out here for all to see! Come on out to Walden’s Church and see our very own Engine 2 🚒 🔥