Rural Fire Department release
Geary County Fire Chief Garry Berges has announced that a FEMA Assistance to Firefighter Grant in the amount of $711,987.00 was received for the purchase of much needed replacement air pacs for Geary County Rural Fire, Grandview Plaza Fire and the City of Milford Volunteer Fire.
While the entire grant was for $711,987.00, FEMA will cover 95% of the grant ($678,083.00) while the three departments will pay the remaining 5% of the grant ($33,904.00) split according to their amount of air pacs obtained for their department.
These replacement air pacs and masks are crucial for the firefighters when fighting not only structure fires, but also other types of fires including vehicle fires. Majority of these departments’ air pacs are over 15 years in age. Newer technology and the age of the current ones have made the old air pacs obsolete
Geary County Fire Chief Garry Berges stated, “a couple of weeks ago, we were at a training exercise using our air pacs. Two of them failed to perform properly even though they were certified a month prior by a certified air pac technician. They are old, worn, and repair parts are hard to obtain.”
Grandview Plaza Fire Chief Jeremy Bramwell said, “it is pennies on the dollar. If we would not have received this grant, the taxpayers would have had to pay for the entire purchase of this much needed fire equipment to keep our firefighters safe in Grandview Plaza, Milford, and Geary County.
The Fire Chiefs will be meeting in the near future to start the necessary steps to obtain the equipment which will include putting it out to bid.