Summary
The Route 504 Volunteer Fire Department was formed to provide
the northwestern part of Elliott County Kentucky with reliable fire
protection
and through mutual aid agreements assist other nearby
departments.
We have a highly motivated group of more than 30 volunteers and more
than
10 auxiliaries that attend weekly training sessions at our
firehouse.
The requested funding will furnish the required equipment and supplies
to make our Fire Department capable of providing much needed, effective
fire protection for our primary response area.
Our department's history began several years ago as an idea
of
several folks in the community. Planning started in earnest
in
the
fall of 2001. A fire department board was created and it held its first
meeting April 10, 2002. A location for our firehouse was
selected,
negotiated, and finally purchased. Groundbreaking was held
May 19
and the building was completed in November. Public meetings
to
raise
awareness and recruit members have been held several times in the past
year. Training commenced in January. And of course
we have
been soliciting funds and dealing with the necessary paperwork
throughout
these many steps.
Because our fire department is newly formed, we have almost
none
of the basic essential equipment required to meet legislated regulatory
requirements and standards. We do, however, now have a two
bay
building
ready to house it and the Forest Service is providing a used fire truck
which has just been delivered to our firehouse. They have
also
offered
a second vehicle which we will convert to a tanker with the addition of
a surplus tank and pump. Due to unforseen paperwork delays we
have
not yet been able to take delivery of it or start converting it for our
use but expect to do so within the next few weeks. The county
government
has offered to pay insurance for the building and any vehicles we can
acquire
but they require us to be responsible for all other operating costs,
equipment,
building maintenance, and training.
General Area Description
The department will serve the northwestern portion of Elliott
County. The county is located in the foothills of the Appalachian
Mountains
in the northeastern part of Kentucky. This is an isolated,
rural
area with a county population of 6777 based on a 2001
estimate.
It
covers 234 square miles for an average population density of 29 people
per square mile. It is principally agricultural with no
significant
industrial base. More than half of it is covered by
forest.
As a result we have a very limited tax base and also a limited
opportunity
to solicit for donations. The county has no zoning
regulations so
the questions on the application related to zoning do not
apply.
Most roads present difficult access. They are hilly, winding,
and
narrow. Many are gravel and few have guard rails.
County Financial
Information
Elliott County is one of the 410 counties in parts of 13
states
covered by the Appalachian Regional Commission. According to
their
2003 report our county is listed as "Distressed" the lowest, most
needy,
of their four categories. That same report says that the county is one
of the lowest five in "Per Capita Market Income" and has a 3-year
unemployment
rate greater than 13%. This puts it among the 10 highest in
the
Appalachians
which is itself one of the highest unemployment regions in the
nation.
Taken together this results in a per capita income for the county of
only
56% of the national average. Census data puts the number of people
living
below the poverty rate at 25.9%. As you can see it
will be
very difficult to fund the purchase of required equipment using only
local
resources.
Current Fire Department
Status
The Route 504 Volunteer Fire Department primary response area
(78 sq. mi), like the rest of the county, is a farming
community.
It has three businesses including a gas station. There are
also a
few natural gas and oil wells with very limited
production.
It is currently served by The Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire Department in
the
south-central part of the county which is more than 19 miles from
portions
of our primary response area. The only other fire department
in
the
county is even further away and is not expected to provide support to
our
response area. Because we are newly formed and have no
equipment,
the response statistics listed in the application are not those of our
department but are based on the fraction of calls to the Sandy Hook
Fire
Department that we expect will be handled by our new department.
Much of our response area is served by a public water supply
but it is not equipped with hydrants. There will be a fill
station
located at the firehouse which can only be used for a gravity fill of
tanks
on our trucks. This is due to water company concerns of the
possibility
of collapsing their water lines if we pump from them. We expect to also
use available surface water streams and ponds as supply when
appropriate.
The Women's Auxiliary has taken on most of the responsibility
for fund raising. They will continue to conduct various
fund-raising
events including chili dinners, a fish fry, raffles, yard sales and
auctions.
The "From The Heart" association has offered an AED and suction unit
for
us and will donate it as soon as we can arrange for our responders to
be
trained. Our local phone company has also supported us with a
donation
and we will be soliciting from other businesses that serve our
community.
Because we have not been in operation, no value was entered
on
the application form for the average operating budget for past three
years.
A projection of $7600 per year was made by our department board based
on
estimates of cost for fuel, heat, electric, phone, water, insurance,
equipment
maintenance, and building maintenance.
For obvious reasons we have made no mutual aid responses but we are
in the process of negotiating mutual aid agreements with four other
volunteer
departments both in and outside the county.
Expected Benefits
Because of the long distance to the fire department currently
serving our area the response time for fires in our primary response
area
is very long, as much as 35 minutes, and until our department is
equipped
for operation it will remain so. There have been two fire
related
deaths in our primary response area in the past three years and one
other
fire death in the county. Most of our responses are expected
to
be
for vehicle and vegetation fires with a smaller but more significant
number
of home and other structure fires. While the available
records
don't
track whether fires within Elliott County were in our department's
primary
response area, family support services in the county report that a
total
of 20 families have been displaced due to fire in the past three
years.
This is over 3 times what national statistics would project for our
population.
Unfortunately no one maintains records of the extent of
property
loss for either our primary response area or the county as a whole, so
that statistic is unavailable.
Vehicle accidents are common on our winding roads and our
fire
department will respond to many of those in our primary response area
to
provide assistance for the ambulance service and to help to control
fuel
and other spills.
Many people do not have fire insurance due to its high cost
and
generally low income. The improvement in fire rating that
will
result
from our fire department will enable more people to afford insurance
with
obvious benefit to both the families affected and the County social
support
services as well.
Just outside our primary response area are an elementary
school
and a prison, scheduled to open this year. The prison will
serve
an estimated 899 inmates plus staff, volunteers, and
visitors. A
fire at either of these facilities would generate an automatic mutual
aid
request to which we would respond.
Major Budget Categories
Within the Fire Operations and Firefighter Safety Program we
have chosen to request funding for training, firefighting equipment,
and
PPE based on an analysis of community needs. The equipment
specified
is needed to meet minimum codes and standards. We feel that
our
requests
in these categories can be effectively used to prepare and equip our
volunteers
so that they can provide essential fire response. Our total
request
to train and equip our department is ($143836)
Training ($5550)
We are requesting funds to purchase the IFSTA video tape
series
($3550) and a videotape player and TV to be used at our weekly training
sessions ($600). We will make the tapes available to the
volunteers
for their review at other times as well. We are also
requesting 5
copies of the Firefighting Essentials Manual ($200) to be
used at
the firehouse or signed out to volunteers for one week periods if an
individual
wishes to extend their understanding of firefighting
principles.
We currently do not have tapes or other instructional materials
available
except those that the instructor brings and then only for the duration
of the class. We therefore do not have the opportunity to use
them
at other times. It is important for our officers and board to attend
training
conferences within the state to learn about new programs and
procedures.
We are requesting funding for travel for such events ($1200). Proper
training
is essential for an effective response.
Firefighting equipment,
Communication ($12876)
We currently have no communication capability (other than
smoke
signals) to call out our volunteers and effectively communicate from
the
fire scene. The 5 watt handheld priority scan radios we are
requesting
will enable our active volunteers to be called out and for them to
respond
that they are en route (35 units $9275). The county does have a central
dispatch which we will use when we are equipped with radios.
Those
that we are requesting conform to ones used elsewhere in the
county.
The 50 watt repeater that is in our request is required for the
dispatcher
to reliably reach most of our primary response area. With antenna and
installation
it will cost ($1899). This does not include the cost of the
antenna
mast which will be bourne locally. Local topography is very
hilly
with deep gorges that make radio communication problematic in some
locations
even with the repeater. The two vehicles that we expect to
have
operational
in the near future each require 25 watt radios, antenna, mounts, and
installation
($1702). The higher power transmitter that they will have
should
help minimize the radio dead spots. We have been careful to
select
equipment that will enable us to communicate with adjoining fire
departments
including those outside of our county in the event of a mutual aid
call.
Firefighting response
equipment,
firefighting ($36906)
Our fire department currently has no firefighting equipment
other
than the fire truck previously mentioned. The delivery and
conversion
of the other forest service vehicle to a tanker is expected to be
completed
within 3 months. In order to properly equip these
vehicles
we need hand tools such as axes (2 each flat and pick for each truck),
pike poles (1 each truck), and spanner/wrenches (2 each truck)
($1432).
Our request for hoses (750 ft of 1 3/4 and 2 ½ ) for each truck
is the minimum acceptable under NFPA 1901 to meet the needs of our area
($12480). We are requesting 500 ft of forestry line to help
us
deal
with vegetation fires ($660). Our request for two 1 ½ in. fog
nozzles,
a 2 ½ in. fog nozzle, a 2 ½ in. straight nozzle and a
forestry
tip for each truck is the minimum complement recommended for fighting
the
types of fires we expect ($7508). The gated Y and reducer
fittings
requested will permit the effective utilization of our available
resources
($464). The floating and low flow strainers in our request
will
permit
us to draw water from farm ponds and streams during a response
($1012).
The lack of any hydrants other than at the firehouse makes this
capability
essential. The dump tank is necessary for water handling
capacity
at a fire scene ($980). The value of the remaining equipment: ladders
(a
roof, attic and 24 ft extension for each truck), extinguishers (2, 20
lb
ABC and 5, PW for each truck), and salvage covers (6) is obvious
($5586).
We are also requesting a 2 bottle fill station, with necessary
controls,
($6784) so that we can refill SCBA bottles after use.
Firefighting
response equipment,
rescue ($8376)
The availability of a backboard (1), "Stokes" basket (1), and
EMS jump kits (2) will permit our department to provide rescue and
medical
support for individuals prior to the arrival of the ambulance
($1915).
The ambulance is garaged 11 miles from the center of our primary
response
area at the Sandy Hook fire department. A K-12 fire rescue
saw, a
Power Hawk spreader and jaws, a torch, and Halagan tools(4) all are
useful
in different circumstances for extrication of victims trapped by
accidents
($4751). One must consider that the most common calls we
expect
are
vehicle and farm accidents. The steep hills on many farms in
our
area have caused tractors to roll over or wagon loads to shift trapping
the driver or others. Many of these accidents require
specialized
equipment for safe extrication. A set of air bags, 48 ton, is
needed
to provide a safe way to lift heavy loads ($1710). We consider all
these
rescue items to be essential to our mission.
Hazardous materials
response
($200)
Fire departments in rural locations can be called on to deal
with spills of fuel, farm chemicals and similar materials . A
supply
of absorbent material ($100) is one item that we need to deal with
these
spills. We also need a pair of binoculars for each truck
($100)
so
that we can inspect an accident scene to determine if it is safe to
approach
more closely .
Personnel protective
equipment ($79928)
Each of our 30 active firefighters needs to be outfitted with
a complete set of turnout gear, helmet, boots, gloves, hoods, goggles,
etc. for their protection when fighting a fire (NFPA 1977 or
better)($39000).
We also have several volunteers who will not be called on to take a
direct
role in fire fighting but who will provide much needed support services
at the fire scene. We will provide them with NFPA approved
coveralls
(10) for their protection when responding, and reflective vests (10)
for
use when engaged in traffic control ($600). Flashlights
($100)
are
also included in our request. Wildland gear (20 sets),
including
jumpsuits and helmets is needed for those who will be responding to
brush
and woodland fires ($4780). We are requesting 12 SCBA units,
30
minute,
equipped with integrated PASS motion/heat detectors ($24576) for the
protection
of those firefighters who approach the incident and are likely to be
exposed
to respiratory hazards (per NFPA 1500 and FEMA
recommendations).
We feel that two spare 30 minute bottles, new light weight carbon
fiber,
for each of these units will provide an adequate reserve for likely
incidents
($10872).
General
For all equipment purchases we will select NIOSH/NFPA approved items
if possible.
Conclusion
The award of this grant to the Route 504 Volunteer Fire
Department
will provide greatly enhanced fire protection for the citizens living,
working in and traveling through our community. We expect our
department
to have a relatively low call volume but, without this necessary
equipment
there is no timely and effective firefighting capability for our
primary
response area. And, what is more important an adequately
equipped
fire department may mean the difference of a life saved.
Any consideration you give our department toward this grant application is greatly appreciated.
If the attempt at humor was inappropriate I apologize, but as firefighters we respond when we see a "smoke signal".
------------------------
Here are most of the items we requested. If you have or know
of any surplus used equipment that we might be able to obtain please
let
us know. Thanks very much for any help you can give and for
just
reading this far for that matter.
Thanks again.
a) Training
IFSTA tape series
essentials manuals
tv/vcr player
in state travel for training
b) Wellness (no request in this category)
c) Firefighting equipment
Communication
portable
radios
35
radios for
trucks
2
truck antenna and
mount 2
repeater
Response
equipment, fire fighting
hose 1 3/4"
50'
30
hose 2 1/2"
50'
30
hose 1" forestry line
100' 5
nozzle 1 1/2"
fog
4
nozzle 2 1/2"
fog
2
nozzle 2 1/2"
straight
2
1" forestry
tip
2
pick
ax
4
flat
ax
4
pike
pole
2
spanner/wrench
4
gated
Y
2
reducer
coupling
4
floating
strainer
1
low flow
strainer
1
dump
tank
1
extinguishers ABC 20
lb 4
extinguishers
PW
10
salvage
covers
6
10' attic
ladder
2
14' roof
ladder
2
24' extension
ladder
2
rope 200'
1/2"
4
a 2 bottle fill station
Response
equipment, rescue
stokes basket,
plastic
1
back
board
1
EMS jump
kit
2
Power hawk tool, spreaders & jaws
k-12 fire rescue saw
torch
Halagan tool, mini crowbar 4
air bags 48 ton set
Hazmat
absorbent for spills 20
binoculars 2
PPE equipment
Turnout gear complete set 30
or separate pieces
jacket, pants,
suspenders,
hoods,
helmets,
gloves, goggles, boots,
vests, coveralls
wildland gear,
jumpsuits 10
wildland gear,
helmets
10
SCBA with
PASS
12
spare cylinders
flashlights
10
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