ď»¿Weiser rural fire claims grant, new truck
By Jennifer Colton - Argus Observer
Thursday, March 15, 2007 2:41 PM PDT
| |
| Jennifer Colton | Argus Observer
Weiser Area Rural Fire Station Manager Ron Bruce points out areas that will be detailed when the light brush truck is painted Monday. The district bought the truck from the BLM to replace a truck that began having mechanical problems last year and hopes to use funds from a United States Department of Homeland Security Assistance to Firefighters Grant to reimburse the department for the purchase. |
Weiser - With a new light brush truck and an order for new equipment, the Weiser Area Rural Fire Department is ready for the 2007 fire season.
Earlier this month, the United States Department of Homeland Security announced the district will receive a $45,000 Assistance to Firefighters Grant for fiscal year 2006.
Most of the monies from the grant are slated for a new breathing air compressor to refill self-contained breathing apparatuses. The funds will also be used for an emergency generator to power new equipment and the Weiser Rural Fire Station during a power outage, according to a Weiser Area Rural Fire Department press release.
Weiser Rural Fire Chief Nate Marvin said Tuesday he hopes the grant will apply to a light brush truck the department recently purchased as well.
“It’s just that time wasn’t quite right,” he said. “We didn’t get the grant before the truck came up.”
The department purchased the light truck — which carries 200 gallons of water and all the necessary gear for a three-man crew — from the United States Bureau of Land Management in Idaho for $16,000, Marvin said, so the department can respond to multiple fires at once.
“This will give us two light engines and one heavy for brush time,” Marvin said. “Our fire district in Idaho is over 150 square miles, then we have another 30 to 35 we cover in Oregon. When we get lightning storms come through, we have had two fires going at once in our district.”
Of that area, at least 80 percent is farmland or wildland, Weiser Rural Fire Station Manager Ron Bruce said.
The truck will go into active service with the department by April 1 and will replace a 1976 truck that began having mechanical problems during the last fire season, Bruce said.
“We started having trouble with it, and it was just time to replace it,” he said. “All the equipment that was on the old truck will go straight on this one.”
The new truck also marks the final step of the department’s transition into diesel engines.
“They (diesels) seem to handle the heat and abuse better,” Bruce said.
The Weiser Area Rural Fire Department also responds to mutual aid calls throughout the area and has a good working relationship with BLM in Idaho and the Idaho Fire Chiefs Association, Marvin said.
“(The brush truck) will just give us another tool in our toolbox to help our district and the surrounding areas,” he said.
