The news has rocked fire departments across the Hudson Valley.

News broke earlier this week about major drug arrests across the Hudson Valley, with some of the arrested being members of local fire departments. The police called it "Operation Bread, White and Blues" and it resulted in 29 arrests, including a local firefighter and police officer.

Once the arrest were made public there was a lot of public backlash towards many local fire departments across the Hudson Valley. I've seen posts on social media sites with people saying that they now have a hard time trusting their fire departments because of the arrests.

It's gotten to the point that some local volunteer fire departments have had to make public statements about the incident, including the Wawayanda Fire Company and the Slate Hill Fire District. Here is what they posted on their Facebook page.....

Very well said. I know that you have most likely heard this before but I feel like we have to say it again. We can't judge anybody because of a few bad choices by others, never judge a book by it's cover.

In case you need a reminder most of our local fire departments are volunteer. These men and woman respond to calls no matter what time of day it is. They drop what ever they are doing to respond when needed and I feel that it's super important for them to know how much I appreciate what they do.

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