Four area fire departments receive DNR grants

Four fire departments in Washington and Henry counties are gearing up to fight fires in rural areas thanks to a series of grants from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

According to a news release, the DNR's Volunteer Fire Assistance (VFA) program awarded $234,000 in 50 percent cost-sharing grants to 100 Iowa fire departments. Among those were the Washington Fire Department, Brighton Fire Department, Riverside Fire Department and New London Fire Department. Each department will use to money to be outfitted to fight fires in rural wooded areas.

'A lot of times we have grass fires,” Washington Fire Chief Tom Wide said. 'We can't get our regular trucks into that area.”

The Washington Fire Department received $3,500 that will be used to purchase an off-road UTV set up to fight grass fires. Wide said the vehicle will be used in places that trucks are unable to access.

He said the grant is preapproved and most fire departments only have to apply in order to get the grants.

The Brighton Fire Department is receiving a $591 grant that will be used for brooms, swatters and drip torches. Fire chief Bill Farmer said the items will be preordered and when they arrive, the department pays for the items and the DNR reimburses the department. He explained the brooms and swatters are used to beat out flames and the drip torches are used in more serious fires to do back burns to eliminate fuel and bring a fire under control.

'Over 30 percent of our fires are wildland fires, and that is where the need comes in,” he said. 'This is all expendable stuff. The drip torches should last forever, but the brooms and the swatters - the more you use them, the faster they wear out.”

The Riverside Fire Department also received a $3,500 grant. Chief Chad Smothers said the money would go toward the purchase of a pump tank for the department's new grass truck. He said the department had just gotten the grass truck, replacing two vehicles in the department's fleet that were over 25 years old.

'The new one allows us to operate in wildland situations and grass fire situations,” Smothers said. 'In covering our rural district we respond to several grass fires in both the spring and fall. It is good to have a 4-wheel drive vehicle to get around in those areas.”

Smothers said the match is coming from the firefighters association's fundraising efforts.

In New London, the volunteer fire department will get about 20 sets of light firefighting gear to outfit the firefighters who go out to woodland fires. Chief Reggie Williamson explained the gear is lighter than the heavy firefighting outfits used when firefighters operate in a building. He said this helps cut down on such things as heat stroke.

'A lot of our woodland gear is in bad shape so we are going to get new gear,” he said. 'It's going to cost about $10,000, but they are going to pay for $3,500.”

The match for the project will come from fundraising efforts and donations of the fire department during the last year.

Williamson explained the department handles more grass fires than anything and the equipment would be used to help with those calls.

The VFA was authorized by the 1990 Farm Bill to provide financial, technical, and other assistance through state forestry agencies to organize, equip, and train small, local fire departments in rural communities with populations under 10,000 to prevent and suppress rural fires. Work contributes to healthy forests, forest stewardship, and sustainable economic development. VFA dollars may be used to fund multi-community/fire department projects such as mutual-aid communications networks.