The Addison Township Fire Department received a welcome piece of news March 19 when it was selected to receive federal grant money to help replace their old airpacks and turnout gear.
They were awarded $137,000 from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters Grant program to help purchase 20 sets of airpacks, 12 sets of turnout gear and expand their exhaust extraction system at Station #1, located at 4026 Forest St. in Leonard.
‘We’re really impressed,? said Addison Township Fire Chief Jerry Morawski.
‘We put a really good team together and they were able to achieve our goal. This will be a big benefit to us and for our residents,? he added.
This was the first time that the Fire Department had ever applied and received federal grant money, according to Morawski.
The money would not have been possible without the hard work and diligence of Fire Sgt. Fred Vandervennet, who wrote the grant.
‘It was exciting because it has been a long process waiting to hear if we had received the grant or not,? he said.
They submitted the grant to FEMA in May 2009 and found out Friday that they received the grant.
‘It feels like Mardi Gras,? Vandervennet said. ‘It’s a great feeling for all of us that we got this money so we can move the department forward because we don’t have to allocate funds for this.?
The grant money will allow the department to purchase brand new equipment without having to go ask the township people for more money during these tough economic times, Vandervennet added.
‘It allows us to purchase the airpacks we need, so that each truck we have is equipped with the number of airpacks that should be on the truck, which makes it a much safer environment for us as firefighters to better serve the community,? said Vandervennet.
He said that with the average age of their gear being seven to nine years old, the grant money could not have come at a better time.
The airpacks have to be replaced every three-to-five years; the turnout gear every 10 years.
‘In three years we would have been forced to replace the equipment, regardless if we had the grant or not,? he added.
In addition to new airpacks and turnout gear, the station will be adding to their exhaust extract system, which hooks up their vehicles to vents that blow the exhaust fumes outside the building.
‘It makes it safer for people when they come up for pancake breakfasts and for our families when they come and visit that you don’t have vehicles running exhaust inside the station,? he added.
Vandervennet said it wasn’t entirely his effort alone, that it was the collective effort of everyone at the department.
‘It was everybody’s backing of, yes we’re going to write these grants, and everybody was supportive and willing to help where they could from spell-checking to making sure the grammar was correct,? he said.
The department is planning on allocating the funds that were previously designated towards the airpacks and turnout gear and use it for replacing other gear.
One area they are looking at is replacing some of their trucks and tankers. ‘Our newest truck is from 1997, so that is 13 years old and our tankers are from 1982 and 1987,? Vandervennet said.