CULLMAN, Ala. – The Jones Chapel Fire Department recently received three different grants from FEMA’S Assistance to Firefighters Grants, the Cullman County Community Development Commission and the Alabama Forestry Commission.
The department has already purchased 25 new air packs with the grant money from Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG). The grant of $175,500 from AFG is the biggest the department has ever received. The packs were delivered on Nov. 19 and should be in service in a couple of weeks. They were awarded a $12,000 grant on the Nov. 15 from the Cullman County Community Development Commission to purchase a battery powered rescue tool.
The department depends on grants for their large equipment purchases.
They received a grant in 2012 for a new truck, as well as one in 2010 for a set of rescue tools and a washing machine and dryer for turn-out gear.
Assistant Chief Clint Thrasher said, “Stuff gets outdated. We got rescue tools on a grant in 2010, but those tools now are nearing the end of their lifespan, so that’s why we’ve applied for more rescue tools. We’ve got a lot of trucks now, but a lot of our trucks are getting older, so we’ve applied for another truck this year too. A lot of our stuff has expiration dates, so we have to keep it in a cycle to keep it replaced. And the technology, like our radios, we have to keep up with the technology.”
They have also recently been awarded a skid unit from the Alabama Forestry Commission. The skid unit is a tank, a pump and a hose reel that can be put on or taken off a vehicle.
The department recently got a military surplus Hummer with a medical skid. Thrasher said, “We’ve got that Forestry grant so that we can take that medical unit out of it and put the firefighting unit in it and use it for two different purposes.”
The Jones Chapel Fire Department would also like to invite the community to donate to the Sandlin’s who recently lost their home due to a fire a couple weeks ago. Donations are being accepted at Harmony School in Logan.
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