Brendletown Fire and Rescue

05/27/2026

05/27/2026

05/27/2026

Every single day, your body creates waste products that must be safely processed and removed. Normal metabolism produces byproducts, medications are broken down after they do their job, alcohol creates toxic intermediates, and countless environmental substances enter the body that require detoxification. The liver acts as the body’s central chemical processing center, modifying these substances so they can safely leave through the urine or bile.

A helpful way to picture this is as a massive city water treatment plant. Imagine contaminated water constantly flowing into the facility filled with chemicals, debris, and pollutants. The plant’s job is to filter, neutralize, and process dangerous substances before releasing safer water back downstream. The liver performs a very similar role for your bloodstream. Blood arriving from the intestines and circulation contains nutrients, medications, hormones, toxins, and metabolic waste, and the liver must determine what to keep, what to modify, and what needs to be eliminated.

The liver does this through specialized enzyme systems that chemically transform substances into forms the body can safely excrete. Some compounds are made water-soluble so the kidneys can remove them in urine. Others are secreted into bile and eliminated through the digestive tract. This process is critical because many toxins are dangerous specifically because they are fat-soluble and would otherwise remain circulating in the body.

Alcohol is one of the clearest examples of this system in action. When alcohol enters the bloodstream, the liver begins breaking it down using enzymes such as alcohol dehydrogenase. Alcohol is first converted into acetaldehyde, a highly toxic intermediate, before being further processed into acetate, which is much safer and can eventually be used for energy. Under normal circumstances, the liver can manage this workload effectively.

But like any treatment plant, the system has limits. If toxins arrive faster than the liver can process them, such as during heavy alcohol consumption, overdose, or chronic toxin exposure, the system becomes overwhelmed. Toxic intermediates begin to accumulate, inflammation develops, and liver cells can become damaged. Over time, repeated overload can lead to fatty liver disease, hepatitis, fibrosis, and eventually cirrhosis.

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05/27/2026

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05/27/2026

FREE TRAINING

The Power of Hope: Strengthening Resilience and Wellbeing in First Responders

First responders face unique and repeated stressors which wear down the systems for resilient thinking. This course explores the role of hope in first responder resilience. The course examines Dr. Richard Snyder's Hope Theory and how it can be used to enhance resilience, wellbeing, and purpose for first responders - both personally and within your department. Topics include hope as it applies to moral injury, trauma, and agency, and the role of leadership, mentors, and peer support in cultivating hope in their responders.

Saluda Co Emergency
Operations Center 175 Public Safety Dr
Saluda, SC 29138

July 2, 2026
0900-1200 ET

Register here: https://nvfc.wufoo.com/forms/p1dojr6g1lxf4nr/

Contact Information:
Course host - Chief Mark Lybrand , m.lybrand@saludacounty .sc.gov
NVFC Training Coordinator - Amanda Tegtmeyer, [email protected]

05/27/2026

Each event is 5-6 pm

05/27/2026

Keep rising.
When life sends a downpour around you,
keep rising.

When people judge your circumstances
without knowing the story,
keep rising.

When the weight feels heavier
than what your heart should have to carry,
keep rising.

When the waiting is long,
the healing is slow,
and the answers don’t come easily,
keep rising.

Not because it’s easy.
Not because it doesn’t hurt.
But because storms do not decide
who you become.

You are still growing
through every hard season.
Still standing.
Still becoming.
Still rising.

05/27/2026

Report from western North Carolina. Here's an interesting pic, with a vintage GMC/EEI pumper-tanker -and- with its top-mounted pump panel sun-protected with a makeshift canopy. That's Brendletown Fire and Rescue Engine 752 working at the Old Highway 105 forest fire on the border of Burke and McDowell counties. Pic from the U.S. Forest Service - National Forests in North Carolina posting from last week, https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Gvdya7so8/

05/22/2026

A huge thank you to everyone who donated, supported, rappelled, and helped make this event such a success. Seeing so many people come together for the Firefighter Burned Children Fund was incredible.
Big congratulations to our top three fundraisers:
🥇 Lisa Coltrain with the Conference of DA’s — $1,177
🥈 Mike Fenninger with South Iredell Fire Rescue — $490
🥉 Matthew Hardy — $373
Thank you all for making a difference and helping bring hope to children and families across North Carolina. Already looking forward to our next one in October.