The Ridge Volunteer Fire Department recently received a donation of canned emergency drinking water from leading brewer Anheuser-Busch, through a partnership with the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), to help keep their responders hydrated as they battle fires this season. The water was provided through the Emergency Drinking Water for Wildland Firefighters Program.

On August 16th, one (1) pallet of water (2,352 cans) was delivered by local Anheuser-Busch wholesaler partner, Guy Distributing Company of Leonardtown, MD. The water will help maintain firefighters’ hydration during long incidents or disasters such as wildfires, which is a major safety concern for many departments.

“Having an adequate supply of clean drinking water is essential for firefighters to perform at their best while battling wildfires or other long incidents in extreme heat,” said Ridge VFD Fire Chief Brian Cooper. We’re thankful for the donation of canned drinking water from Anheuser-Busch and the NVFC to help keep our responders safe and hydrated. Thank you also to Guy Distributing for taking the time to deliver the water to our station.”

Anheuser-Busch has a longstanding tradition of pausing beer production each year to provide emergency drinking water and supplies for disaster relief efforts. The production pause enables the company to apply its production and logistics expertise to can clean, safe drinking water that is ready to distribute when disaster strikes. Since 1988, the brewer has donated more than 90 million cans of emergency drinking water to communities impacted by natural disasters and other crises.

Building on this commitment, the brewer teamed up with the NVFC – the leading nonprofit membership association representing the interests of the volunteer fire, emergency medical, and rescue services – in 2019 to provide emergency drinking water to help firefighters stay hydrated and healthy when responding to wildfires and large incidents. To date, the program has donated nearly 6.5 million cans of water to more than 1,400 volunteer fire departments across nearly all 50 states.

Learn more about the program at www.nvfc.org/water.