A firefighter said, "Now we know we can handle something like this. This showed there's no question we can work together. One of the ironies of the tragedy was that it provided phenomenal real-life training for our squads and companies."

A rescue squad member added, "It also tells us we need to continue to train ... and train together. We need to have more people trained in certain specialties like vehicle rescue. It would be great if all the squads and companies in the county and two cities could organize and execute a huge training weekend.

"Perish the thought, but what if that had been 60 vehicles out there in that fog? What if there had been a school bus full of kids involved? What if it happened right on the bridge itself? What if it had happened on a Tuesday afternoon when most of our volunteers are working and unable to respond? What would we have done? It would be great to all come together and train together for a weekend."

A firefighter perks up at the hypotheticals put forth by the squad member: "What if it had involved lots of diesel fuel and gasoline rolling quickly downhill toward a burning vehicle? We should ponder any such possibilities and coordinate our disaster planning, so that we know how we'd respond. In this case, it all worked out because we worked so well together."

Another rescue squad member continued the conversation, "One of the big things to remember is the importance of knowing what resources, both personnel and equipment, are available, both individually and collectively. We're lucky in Rockbridge County that Lee Hi is located here. If they were in Staunton and their crane was in Staunton, that's another hour we would have had to wait, and we could have lost more lives."

All in the conversation pointed to the importance of the new central dispatch system. "It may take a while to work all the bugs out," commented a firefighter. "But, central dispatch did an amazing job the morning of the wreck. Their presence will be helpful in coordinating our cooperative efforts now and in the future."