WINNING NARRATIVE 2005


The XXX Fire Department is located in Central Minnesota in XXX County 90 miles north of Minneapolis/St Paul.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND BUDGET:
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We have more than the required $7410.00, 5% match. We have an additional $7,800.00 saved towards the purchase of a safe and NFPA 1901 compliant tanker.

The XXX Fire Department is requesting funding from the Firefighting Vehicle acquisition Program, for the purchase of a new 3000 gallon tanker. This vehicle would be NFPA, OSHA, and Minnesota Department of Transportation compliant.

After a comprehensive risk assessment of our department needs, a serious problem became readily apparent. Our current tanker and does not meet MN-OSHA, NFPA, or Minnesota DOT standards.

This vehicle is a converted milk truck, with over 584,000 miles on it. The 3000 gallon tank is overweight for the 12,000 pound front axel and 36,000 pound rear axels, making it very unsafe to operate. This tank does not have a proper baffle in it and the parking brakes are a continuous problem, making it a great hazard to the operator and bystanders.

This vehicle was never intended to be a fire response vehicle. These conditions have a negative affect on our ability to provide mission critical services to the public.

It is our goal to purchase a new 3000 gallon tanker that would be stocked with equipment that meets NFPA 1901 minimum standards for firefighting. This will increase the safety of not only the firefighters responding to all hazards, but also the general public on the roadways and at the fire scenes.

The total cost of a new NFPA 1901 freightliner 3000 gallon tanker, with a 750 gpm pump is $156,000. This application is consistent with grant priorities.

Total Project Costs .....= $156,000.00
Extra additional Match ..= $ 7,800.00
Requesting Funds .......= $148,200.00
Required 5% Match .......= $ 7,410.00
Federal Share ¿..........= $140,790.00



FINANCIAL NEED:
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The XXX Fire Department is located in rural Minnesota, with a small percentage of industries and a large percentage (30%) of people over the age of 62, our local tax base and community can not support a project of this size. The small annual budget we receive from the City of XXX is used to pay for fuel, repairs, utilities, and debt service. It does not include money for vehicle expenditures.

Our department does have 2 fundraisers each year, but due to our rural location and elderly population, these events raise small amounts of money. The Average median household income in our area is $37,000, $10,000 below the state average. 10% of our population is living below the poverty level.

Below is information on the fire department budget from the City of XXX, averaged out over the past three years:

AVERAGE INCOME PER YEAR:
$70,000 ... Fire Contract with townships
$ 1,500 ... Fundraising
$71,500 ... TOTAL

AVERAGE EXPENSES PER YEAR:
$10,000 ... Repairs, operating supplies, maintenance
$15,000 ... Utilities, insurance, professional services
$27,000 ... Debt Service on pumper, rescue vehicle
$18,000 ... Wages, work comp
$5,000 ... Training, Fire Prevention
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$75,000 ... TOTAL

$3,500 over budget.

City Of XXX Budget

AVERAGE EXPENSES PER YEAR:
$91,000 ... General Budget
$138,000 ... Police Service
$75,000 ... Fire Protection
$112,000 ... Public Works
$19,000 ... Health
$45,000 ... Misc., Airport, FICA, Prof. services
$80,000 ... Water & sewer
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$560,000 ... TOTAL

As you can see, we have no ability to put money away each year for replacement of needed vehicles or other large purchases, and our steps to seek alternate funding were unsuccessful.


COST/BENEFIT:
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Because we have additional match dollars this application is a great cost benefit.

Our Primary service area covers 408 square miles, with 4776 permanent residents. The city of XXX and the surrounding townships are a large tourist area, as a result, our population of people under the age of 14 and older than 65, increases dramatically during the summer months. There are over 50 resorts, a k-12 school (525 students), elderly apartment complex, Indian Reservation, State Park and numerous campgrounds to protect in our primary service area. We also have a granite quarry, with explosives being transported through and used in our rural primary area.

The benefits of a new tanker to the community and our department are numerous. With only 5% of our primary area covered by hydrants, the tanker is our lifeline for fire suppression. This tanker responds to every hazard and we also respond with mutual aid to the 7 departments we have contracts with.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources relies on our department to deliver water to many of their wild land fires in our region. A large and reliable water tanker would promote interoperability with neighboring communities and provide a safe mode of transportation for our firefighters responding to those communities. Although our call volume was down in 2004, our department responds to an average of 68 calls per year.

Our philosophy at the XXX Fire Department is that the firefighter is the most precious resource the fire service possesses. And since the firefighter is the most valuable resource, the priority should be the safety of our firefighters responding to calls.

The need to improve and update our equipment is a tremendous concern, and without support from organizations like FEMA, we feel small rural departments are constantly loosing ground on having safe equipment for their departments. If we do not receive this grant, our firefighters and community are still at risk and we will continue to have a gap in our mission critical services.


STATEMENT OF EFFECT:
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The grant is needed to enhance the day to day operations of the XXX Fire Department. This grant will enable the department to respond in a NFPA, MN-OSHA compliant vehicle. This new tanker will have the ability to respond to all hazards in a timely matter, while ensuring the firefighter and general public that the department is operating a safe and compliant vehicle in our daily operations.

We have had instances in the past where we relied on mutual aid for water, because our tanker was out of service. The current tanker is so difficult to drive,even at a top speed of 50 mph, only a handful of firefighters can drive it. A new tanker will not only enhance the protection of property and our ability to protect lives, but all the firefighters will be trained in operating this new tanker.

we are committed to continuing this project and/or benefits of the project beyond the grant year.

The XXX Fire Department is a highly respected and supported group of volunteers in the community. The department takes great pride in what services we provide and if we can show the community that we are striving to improve, it makes future support from the community, easier to receive.


Thank you for considering our grant application, we hope to hear from you soon.