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Grant Gives Penn Fire Co. 'Cutting Edge' Equipment
The North Penn Volunteer Fire Company (NPVFC) of North Wales, Penn. gained a more fully equipped "rescue pumper" — first response vehicle — thanks to a Fireman's Fund Heritage grant that was awarded in October, 2006. The $31,141 grant, which was directed by the local J. C. Stevens, Inc. insurance brokerage representing Fireman's Fund, purchased new stabilizers ("Junkyard Dogs"), cutters and spreaders, hydraulic pumps, saws, struts, rope and binoculars, among other rescue tools. The all-volunteer North Penn crew consists of 81 members and two stations, who serve a population of about 22,000 people in a suburban area near Philadelphia. They respond to around 720-plus calls annually in North Wales Boro and Gwynedd Township, as well as provide assistance in neighboring communities in Montgomery and Bucks Counties when the need arises.
According to North Penn Chief William Goltz, the new, grant-purchased equipment has since been used to save lives in at least five discrete emergency situations. Among the most memorable was an incident that occurred last October, when three lives were endangered after their vehicle collided with a tree in the wee hours of a Sunday morning. The call was answered by a squad from Montgomery County Station 62.
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Crew members from the Montgomery County Station 62, of the North Penn Fire Company of North Wales, Penn, use equipment purchased by a Heritage grant to perform a rescue after a car crash.
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Not All 'Junkyard Dogs' Are Mean
"The Junkyard Dogs were used to stabilize the car, which was overturned, and the cutter and spreader were used to extricate one passenger who was heavily pinned underneath the car," says Chief Goltz. "Before we received the grant, we had older equipment which was not as efficient. This grant provided us with an upgraded cutter and other equipment that do the job much faster, and of course every second counts when there are lives at stake." The three injured passengers were quickly helicoptered to a local medical facility and survived, adds the chief. That same month, the cutter and spreaders were used to extricate another passenger from a single-vehicle collision with a tree in another part of the county, says the chief. "The car was split in half and the passenger was near death. With the new equipment, we got her out in six minutes flat."
"This grant so kindly directed by the J. C. Stevens brokerage and its president, Heather Frain, has really helped us," the chief continues. "We respond to so many calls nowadays that we do not have that much time for fundraising. We depend a lot on community resources to fill that fund-raising time gap, and the J.C. Stevens agency has done a lot for us with this grant and with other assistance."
"The vast majority of volunteer fire companies receive very little government support, and they raise the majority of their operating funds through community fund raisers," adds Barbara Morrisey, program manager, of Fireman's Fund. "To date, as of the last day of 2007, Fireman's Fund has donated through the Heritage program more than $16 million in grants to fire companies big and small across the nation." (See the lead story for more information.)
Share Your Story
Has a Fireman's Fund Heritage grant helped your fire department save a life or even property? We'd love to hear about it so that we can remind our employees and agents about the true value of this program. Please email heritage@ffic.com.
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Grants in Brief |
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Fireman’s Fund employees and independent agencies are directing grants to fire departments across the country. Congratulations to the most recent Fireman’s Fund Heritage® grant recipients:
Alabama
- Ray Volunteer Fire Department, Alexander City — $25,000 for a thermal imaging camera, self-contained breathing apparatus, ventilation saw, and training videos
- Kowaliga Volunteer Fire Department, Eclectic — $25,000 for extrication equipment
- Red Hill Volunteer Fire Department, Eclectic — $25,000 for fire safety education; and communications, EMS & firefighting equipment
- Equality Fire Department, Equality — $15,000 for a thermal imaging camera, station base radio, and mobile GPS system
- Homewood Fire Department, Homewood — $8,000 for firefighter training
- Vestasia Hills Fire Department, Vestasia Hills — $40,000 for a breathing air compressor system with fill station and communication systems
Arizona
- Summit Fire District, Flagstaff — $6,500 for a self-contained breathing apparatus upgrade
- Highlands Fire Department, Kachina Village — $6,500 for Fire safety education materials
- Pinewood Fire Department, Munds Park — $6,500 for a turnout gear washer
- Beaver Valley Fire Department, Payson — $6,500 for a water pumping station
- Whispering Pines Fire Department, Payson — $6,500 for turnout gear and hand-held radios
- Peoria Fire Department, Peoria — $17,000 for a fire safety trailer
- Pine-Strawberry Fire Department, Pine — $6,500 for communications equipment
- Diamond Star Fire Department, Star Valley — $6,500 for fire hose
California
- Los Angeles Fire Department, Arleta — $7,595 for communications and fitness equipment
- Beverly Hills Fire Department, Beverly Hills— $13,200 for wildfire safety education
- Manhattan Beach Fire Department, Manhattan Beach — $17,417 for defibrillators and a fire station alerting system
- Los Angeles Fire Department, North Hollywood — $22,772 for tools and training equipment
- Pasadena Fire Department, Pasadena — $74,584 for a fire safety trailer
- Livermore/Pleasanton Fire Department, Pleasanton — $18,965 for a Special Event Medical Cart
- Poway Fire Department, Poway — $20,902 for portable radios
- Rancho Santa Fe Fire Department, Rancho Santa Fe — $5,000 for communications equipment
- San Francisco Fire Department, San Francisco — $37,199 for an ambulance simulator and EMS training simulator mannequin
- San Ramon Valley Fire Department, San Ramon — $10,000 for a fire safety trailer
Colorado
- Colorado Springs Fire Department, Colorado Springs — $5,000 for axes and carrying belts
- Durango Fire Department, Durango — $20,000 for firefighting and rescue tools
Florida
- Iona McGregor Fire Protection & Rescue, Fort Myers — $6,812 for community education and CERT equipment
- Seminole County Fire Department, Heathrow — $23,482 for turnout gear
- Tampa Fire Rescue, Tampa — $25,000 for fire safety education
- Winter Garden Fire Department, Winter Garden — $15,000 for a safety trailer
Georgia
- Newton County Fire Department, Covington — $30,000 for turnout gear
- City of Gainesvillle Fire Department, Gainesville — $5,000 for turnout gear
- Hall County Fire Department, Gainesville — $5,000 for firefighting equipment
Hawaii
- Honolulu Fire Department, Honolulu — $57,525 for apparatus and firefighter rehab equipment
- Hawaii County Fire Department, Kamuela — $18,199 for firefighter training materials
Louisiana
- St. George Fire Department, Baton Rouge — $9,937 for children’s fire safety education robot
- Ascension Fire Protection District, Gonzales — $7,680 for portable radios
- New Orleans Fire Department, New Orleans — $6,221 for turnout gear
Massachusetts
- Woburn Fire Department, Woburn — $10,000 for children's fire safety education & smoke and CO detectors for seniors
Minnesota
- Golden Valley Fire Department, Golden Valley — $6,500 for multi-gas monitors and calibration equipment
- Minnetonka Fire Department, Minnetonka — $5,682 for GPS systems for engines and ladder trucks
Mississippi
- Jackson Firefighters Association, Jackson— $20,000 for smoke detectors, firefighter training & fire safety education
New Jersey
- Demarest Fire Department, Demarest — $9,800 for a thermal imaging camera
- Maywood Fire Department, Maywood — $15,656 for rescue, firefighting, communications, and personal protective equipment
- Quakertown Fire Company, Pittston — $8,400 for a mobile data computer, defibrillators, safety vests and a generator
- Red Bank Fire Department, Red Bank — $25,000 for two thermal imaging cameras and two defibrillators
- River Vale Volunteer Fire Department, Rivervale — $10,698 for swift water rescue equipment
- Rumson Fire Department, Rumson — $25,000 for a firefighter accountability system
New York
- Briarcliff Manor Fire Department, Briarcliff Manor — $5,810 for extrication equipment
- Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Department, Lake Success — $16,505 for firefighter training props & communications equipment
- NYFD, New York — $25,000 for firefighter rehab unit upgrades
- Fairview Fire Department, White Plains — $11,800 for laptop computers
North Carolina
- Gibsonville Fire Department, Gibsonville — $11,482 for helmets, fire hose, and defibrillators
- Monroe Fire Department, Monroe — $11,400 for laptops and GPS receivers
Pennsylvania
- Centre Square Fire Company, Blue Bell — $5,400 for training mannequins, GPS units, alarm data interface, and EMS suction units
- North Penn Volunteer Fire Company, North Wales — $12,395 for turnout gear
Rhode Island
- Westerly Fire Department, Westerly — $10,256 for hydraulic tool pump
South Carolina
- Blufton Township Fire Department, Blufton — $9,356 for a thermal imaging camera
Tennessee
- Fairview Fire Department, Fairview — $19,950 for a thermal imaging camera, rescue/stabilization equipment & a training mannequin
- Williamson County Rescue Squad, Franklin — $9,180 for firefighter rehabilitation equipment
Texas
- Cedar Park Fire Department, Cedar Park — $5,647 for firefighting equipment
- Dallas Fire Rescue, Dallas — $25,000 for smoke detectors for the hearing impaired
Virginia
- Falls Church Fire Department, Falls Church — $43,571 for a utility vehicle
Washington
- Bremerton Fire Department, Bremerton — $6,842 for rescue and extrication equipment
- Lynwood Fire Department, Lynwood — $5,015 for stair-chairs
A complete list of grants (pdf) is available at www.firemansfund.com/heritage.
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