Belgreen VFD receives $76K grant
BELGREEN – A local volunteer fire department found out this week it would be receiving a special grant that will allow it to purchase life-saving equipment the department needs to better serve the community.
U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced on Tuesday that the Department of Homeland Security would award $76,551 to the Belgreen Volunteer Fire Department for operations and safety. The funding is provided through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program.
“Firefighters are in the field every day protecting our citizens,” Shelby said.
“We have a responsibility to ensure that our first responders are adequately prepared to respond to any event. These grants are evidence of our nation’s continued commitment to our first responders.”
The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded these funds as a part of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFG), which is designed to enhance response capabilities and to more effectively protect the health and safety of the public with respect to fire and other hazards.
The grants enable local fire departments and emergency medical services organizations to purchase or receive training, conduct first responder health and safety programs, and buy equipment and response vehicles.
According to Belgreen’s assistant fire chief, Ken Dobbs, the department will use the money to purchase 10 new air packs and 11 sets of turnout gear, including jumpsuits used in warmer weather and in non-fire situations.
“We do fundraisers twice a year and we might raise anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 from those two fundraisers combined, so to raise the kind of money we received from this grant, it would have taken us years,” Dobbs said.
“And these items are things we really needed to be safe while we’re doing our job.”
Dobbs said their current air packs, which are a firefighter’s source of clean air when inside a fire, are very old and many have been discontinued. Their turn-out gear has also seen better days, with many of them coming apart and having to be rendered useless.
“These are important, life-saving items we have to use when we’re fighting a fire or in an emergency situation,” Dobbs said.
“We’ll now have enough turn-out gear for everyone in the department and we’ll be able to know our equipment is functional and safe.”
