WINNING NARRATIVE 2004



The XXXXXXX Fire Department is located in the city of XXXXXXX, in XXXX, County in the state of Minnesota. We are located in a rural farming area in the XXX part of the State.

The project you are requesting to be funded

After a risk analysis we are requesting $49324.00 to purchase 15 pair of turnout gear, 24 pair of leather fire fighting boots, 1 Genesis Series Extrication tool, 6 pagers, and one mobile radio. This project will help to ensure the safety of our firefighting personnel.

We have a great need to replace our turnout gear because only about 37% of our personnel have gear that is compliant with NFPA standard 1971. Some of the gear is over 15 years old and some of it has burn holes in it and the Velcro and the zippers do not work properly. The 15 sets of gear we are requesting will bring our department to 100% covered in NFPA 1971 compliant turnout gear and also compliant to MN law 182.653 which OSHA requires us to follow because MN is an OSHA State.

The 24 boots would cover all 24 members of our department. We currently have the rubber knee high boots. Only about 50% of our firefighters have boots that are in good shape. The others are either the wrong size or wore out. Some of them have been worn by 2 or 3 other firefighters before it got to them. We would like to equip everyone with leather ranger boots that would be more comfortable, safer and NFPA 1971 compliant.

The Genesis Series extrication tool is to replace an old Hurst tool that is 20 years old. The old one is bulky and heavy to use. It is also getting slow and does not have enough pressure to cut trough some of the new cars. The new one is a lot lighter and faster and safer for our fighters to use. This will also bring us into compliance with NFPA standard 1670.

The pagers are needed because not everyone on the department has a good dependable pager. Some of them that we need to use are the old Motorola Minitor I. They don’t always work so we have some members that miss calls. We are unable to get parts for these anymore and the cost for repair on them gets expensive and sometimes doesn’t last very long. The six new ones would even give us a couple of spare for when we have one in for repair.

The mobile radio will replace an old 6 channel Motorola radio without scanning capabilities. This radio is in a truck that is our first response vehicle for the officers in an incident. It will make our response safer for our fire fighters because the officers will be able to monitor the channels of other responding agencies like police and be able to make a better assessment of the situation and a safer response before getting on scene.

How you plan to use the grant funds for each major budget activity as listed in the budget form.

Turnout gear
Coat & pants- $1000.00 X 15 = $15000.00
Leather Boots - $260.00 X 24 = $ 6240.00

Extrication
Mach III power supply $ 5595.00
T-Rex Cutter $ 4995.00
40XL Spreader $ 5395.00
Ram $ 2095.00
Mini cutter $ 2295.00
Hose reel & 100 ft. hose $ 2525.00
100 ft. extension hose $ 1415.00

Pagers
Motorola Minitor IV $480.00 X 6 = $ 2880.00

Mobile Radio $ 890.00

FEMA Fire grant $ 44393.00
10% match $ 4932.00
Total $ 49325.00

Why this program would be Beneficial to your community and or to your department

The benefit to the XXXXXXX Fire department is that we will have 100% coverage of all our members in NFPA 1971 compliant gear and we will also be compliant with MN law 182.653 and with OSHA. The Boots will give every one good safe foot wear that fits. The leather boots fit better and are better on the body after extended tine in them. This would cut down on fatigue and keep them more focused on the task at hand thus less chance for injuries. The leather is also more resistant to some hazardous materials that we might unknowingly come in contact with at a fire or accident scene, thus give a more added safety. The pagers would give everyone a good working pager and we would have a spare fore someone if one needed to go in for repair. Everyone would able to respond to an incident in a good safe manner and knowing what they are responding to. With the mobile radio our department will be able to better manage their response and the response of other agencies. The new extrication equipment will be lighter and easier to operate and
a less chance for injury.

The acquisition of new equipment and PPE will enhance our performance as a department and any time you can do that you will benefit the community and the people in the area you serve. It would also greatly enhance our fire fighting capabilities. In the past few years we have retired several veteran fire fighters. Their positions as operators and officers have been replaced by others on the department that we relied on for interior fire fighters. We have taken on 6 new members in the past year but we are not able to safely use them for interior attacks because we had to outfit them with used gear that is not up to NFPA 1971 Standards for interior Fire fighting. This will allow us to use them now. In the past few years our accident call volume has increased. We use our extrication equipment more and more. The new extrication equipment is faster and lighter which would lead to even faster extrication times which would benefit everyone. The area that we cover for accidents covers two major highways that also go into three other fire districts that we need to cover either because they do not have the training and equipment or the man power during the day. New and better equipment would decrease the extrication time after what could be a distant response and a better outcome for the victim.

Why this program cannot be funded solely though tax dollars.

This project could not be funded trough local funding because in the last few years the State of Minnesota has severe budget problems and because of that the cities have had their LGA money from the state. The city of XXXXXXX $140000.00 of LGA funds cut which made up 23% of their operating budget. This money will never come back and they are not able to raise taxes because they are already at 79% and cannot go any higher. Our fire department budget for last year, this year and the next few years there is no money set aside fore equipment repair, replacement or new purchases of equipment. Our budget consist of wages, fuel, building maintenance, building and vehicle insurance, training, and work mans comp. insurance, and supplies. That takes care of all the money in our budget.

Any additional relevant information that you would like us to consider when evaluating you application

We have been very fortunate in the past that we were always able to provide our members with very good up to date training and we are still able to continue that today.

We have also been able be up to date in equipment and fore years have been a leader in this area with new fire fighting and rescue equipment to better help the people we serve. But now our equipment is getting old and with the state and city budgets the way they are we are not able to offer our people we serve the best fire and rescue services we should without some help from you. The 10% match will be paid by money the fire department has raised on fundraisers. We have some money set aside to help the city in the purchase of a pumper in 2007 but we could use some of that money now. We also do two major fund raisers a year, one in August and one in October during fire prevention week. These funds will be used to help out with our share of the purchase. The grant funds would be strictly used to purchase the requested items. There would be no other coast like travel or compensation for time. We are a volunteer department and donating your time is just part of the job.

Our department has 24 very dedicated members and they all take paid in their job and serving the community in the best way they can. We thank you for your time in considering our application that with your help can become a reality.

Thanks from the XXXXXXX Fire Department.