The Westville Area Fire Protection District is receiving nearly $200-thousand dollars in the form of a federal grant. Bill Pickett has more…
Fire Chief Mark Ames says the money will be used to purchase twenty-three new air packs….
{AUDIO: “Without this equipment we wouldn’t be able to affect a rescue. We wouldn’t be able to go in and fight a fire inside a structure that’s burning. So, this is a very critical piece of equipment, and these units run about $10-thousand dollars a unit. That covers the pack, mask and two bottles.”}
(Westville Fire Cadet Lillian Shuey, 16, and Lieutenant Anna Ames, 20, prepare to put on air packs.)
The money will also fund equipment for a Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) to help firefighters who might be in trouble…
{AUDIO: “In that pack they’ll have a one-hour bottle. So, they’ll have two times the air supply. They’ll have spare masks. They’ll have all the hoses and fittings needed to re-supply or replace that person’s air pack that’s in trouble…maybe pinned or trapped. And that extends the time we have to work on the problem.”}
(This is one of the 18 year old air packs that will be replaced.)
The grant is from FEMA…the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The nearly $198-thousand-dollar grant requires a 5-percent match in funds from the Westville Fire Department.
Meanwhile, Chief Ames says another exciting announcement about the Westville Area Fire Protection District will be made at their annual Fish Fry on Friday, August 23rd. It is from 4:00 until 7:00 p.m. Friday at St. Mary’s Church in Westville.
(Top photo is of Assistant Westville Fire Chief Matt Shuey – on the left – and Chief Mark Ames. Shuey wrote the grant application that allowed the department to be awarded the money.)
