Charlie Ragonesi Big Canoe Realestate's Blog

Realtors give back ( Photos )

Seventy percent of the fire fighters in this country are volunteers. That is an incredible, to me , number. I am a wild land as well as structural volunteer fire fighter. It requires 30 hours a quarter in training as well as working actual fires. this is one way as a Realtor I give back to the mountain communities I make my living in. The first picture is a wild-land urban fire that we worked near Amicolola Falls.

Working the line

This is a controlled burn we are doing on multiple acres to prevent wild fires. This is done in areas that have buildings and people walking camping and generally being.  It was a hot day and we worked hard to keep all under control.

Days end

By my smile you can tell the day went well. Even though it was tiring the job got done. This is one of the ways I say thank you to the folks in the mountains I work with.

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Charlie Ragonesi All Mountain Realty Big Canoe and Mountain Blog

On line at www.allmountainrealty.com Call at 706 579 1098

We sell Homes                                                    

 

10 comments • Charlie Ragonesi Big Canoe, Jasper, North Georgia Pros • April 05 2011 09:07AM

Black and Blue and Tennis shoe Ball in Big Canoe

November 12 is the Fire fighters casino night and Ball. The money raised is used for the Big Canoe Fire Department. In many rural communities Volunteer fire fighters make up much of departments. Big Canoe is no exception.  As a Volunteer, I can tell you I train as hard as the paid guys. We put in 30 training hours a quarter and respond as needed. The Big Canoe fire Department also respond as part of a multi-county network.

So come to the Ball . Tickets are 75.00 each and we will sell out. You get 1,000 "dollars" in chips, 2 drinks and heavy hors dourves, as well as entertainment. At the end of the night you exchange your chips for tickest and a raffle with tons of prizes starts. There are some great giveaways . But if you cannot come think about making a contribution.

If you can , any donation from $5.00  up is greatly appreciated. All the proceeds go to helping us help folks. The address to send to 

                                                BCVFD INC

                                               11564 Big Canoe

                                               Jasper Ga 30143

Make checks out to Big Canoe Volunteer Fire Department or abbreviate it as BCVFD INC.

Please remember to put in the memo part of the check via ACTIVERAIN.  If you are reading this blog and not an ActiveRain member use  read ActiveRain blog in the memo field. The contributions are deductible.   I want the accounting folks to tabulate this and we will do something nice both on the radio show and on line here to recognize those who helped. Thanks for your support

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Charlie Ragonesi All Mountain Realty Big Canoe and Mountain Blog

On line at www.allmountainrealty.com Call at 706 579 1098

We sell Homes                                                    

 

0 comments • Charlie Ragonesi Big Canoe, Jasper, North Georgia Pros • October 23 2010 07:01PM

Big Canoe Safety Day

The Big Canoe Fire Department in conjunction with other Fire departments and safety services is holding it's first Safety Day Oct 23 from 10 am to 4 pm. This is not an ordinary event. There will be live burn demonstrations. There will also be 2 helicopter landings as well as a water dump. Many Fire Fighters and emergency responders will be on hand from various North Georgia Counties to answer questions. Food is being provided by the Boy scouts who will have a fund raising food booth. Below is an interview I was lucky enough to have with Big Canoe fire Chief Ricky Jordan. Ricky goes into detail about this very important event. If you live outside of Big Canoe there will be access. Many folks who are working for you are volunteers. So take some of your time to help support those who give to support you.

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Charlie Ragonesi All Mountain Realty Big Canoe and Mountain Blog

On line at www.allmountainrealty.com Call at 706 579 1098

We sell Homes                                                    

 

0 comments • Charlie Ragonesi Big Canoe, Jasper, North Georgia Pros • October 22 2010 02:27PM

Fire Safety tip II. Why is 20 minutes important

I think as a fire fighter, volunteer, after my first post about fire safety I will post some additional tips. Thank you for your comments on the first one and I hope you were as surprised as I was about remote control fire places.

OK,so why is 20 minutes important? In many rural areas we have urban and wild land interfaces. Simply put many of us like the country and live in rural areas. When a  wild land fire starts, containment is a number one priority. In the South and Eastern part of the US , unlike the West, 90 percent of homes can be saved from burning out if they are prepped. The prepping consists of fire fighters making the home as tough to ignite as possible by an on coming fire. This is where the 20 minutes comes in . When there are multiple homes to protect we spend no more than 20 minutes per home . If your home needs more than that time we move on to others, It is a matter of saving as many as you can. In another post I will list important things for you to do. But think about it. 20 minutes of our prep can 90 percent of the time save your home. Stay tuned.

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Charlie Ragonesi All Mountain Realty Big Canoe and Mountain Blog

On line at www.allmountainrealty.com Call at 706 579 1098

We sell Homes                                                    

 

5 comments • Charlie Ragonesi Big Canoe, Jasper, North Georgia Pros • June 27 2010 11:49AM

Fire Safety tip, Did you know....????

This is an important post for all of you with gas log fireplaces or stoves. A friend of mine rushes home after a panic call from his wife. It is June 85 degrees and suddenly their gas log fire place comes on !!!.  No it WAS NOT some type of home owner timer screw up. The next door neighbor opened his garage door and the remote control set off the remote control on the fireplace !!! This is a COMMON place problem. If you have a remote control gas fireplace  garage door openers or even cell phones can activate the fire place.

Now what makes this really scary is that these folks were a week away from going on vacation. So if this had happened a week later the fire place would have gone on. A couple of things could have happened, none of them good. Heat would have built  up and possibly caused a fire./ Or A/C comes on and fries the unit as it tries to cool the home. And so on.

So if you have a great gas log fireplace after the season turn the gas off or even better disable the remote. If you are listing a home that is vacant and has one of these things make sure it is secure and off.

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Charlie Ragonesi All Mountain Realty Big Canoe and Mountain Blog

On line at www.allmountainrealty.com Call at 706 579 1098

We sell Homes                                                    

 

3 comments • Charlie Ragonesi Big Canoe, Jasper, North Georgia Pros • June 25 2010 08:48AM

Wow it got cold !

The wind is howling through the mountains tonight. It has done so for a last few nights. Last week we had snow.Is this a sign of things to come? It isn't even winter yet. If you are reading this post and live in the North Georgia Mountains please make sure your fireplace chimneys have been cleaned.

Also I was on a fire call recently and the home owner took the ashes from his fireplace, thought they were out, and scattered them in the yard. They weren't. Luckily a passerby saw the smoke and we were able to stop a brush fire from getting a lot bigger. I am curling up by our hearth tonight . Please exercise caution. I do not want to meet you for the first time in my fire gear.

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Charlie Ragonesi All Mountain Realty Big Canoe and Mountain Blog

On line at www.allmountainrealty.com Call at 706 579 1098

We sell Homes                                                    

 

7 comments • Charlie Ragonesi Big Canoe, Jasper, North Georgia Pros • December 12 2009 07:38PM