ABOVE: Danville Fire Chief Aaron Marcott (file photo).
The Danville Fire Department has received approval from the Danville City Council to apply once again for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters Grant. During a break in Tuesday (Jan 7th) evening’s City Council meeting, Danville Fire Chief Aaron Marcott said that the last couple of years they’ve received the grant and used it for protective gear and clothing. This time, though, they are hoping to receive a $174,000 grant for the replacement of some special water equipment that’s a couple of decades old.
AUDIO: And this year we’re hoping to, especially anything that does water; trying to update all of our water appliances, hoses, and things like that on our trucks. The last time we bought stuff like that was 20 years ago, when we bought the old trucks. So, we’re just trying to update some of that equipment, through this grant.
Chief Marcott says they are hoping to get good news sometime this summer.
Meanwhile, back in early 2024 a decision was made by the City Council to use ARPA COVID relief money to purchase a specially equipped aerial truck for the fire department. In fact, they were able to save some money, and purchase the truck for about $1.6 million, when the fire department located a new truck being used as a demonstration vehicle. But the problem is, as was mentioned during Tuesday’s Council meeting, that truck hasn’t arrived yet. Chief Marcott says; yes, there have been some problems during its journey to Danville.
AUDIO: But it’s had several sort of mishaps along the way; including some paint problems, some design problems. And then, when it was in transit to us to receive it, it actually blew out a tire and did some damage to the body of the truck. So it’s just had a series of mishaps that have delayed it’s delivery, that’s long overdue.
The aerial fire truck’s journey to the Danville Department began in Louisiana. Right now, it’s receiving its latest repairs in Indianapolis.
