-Submitted photo The Manson Fire Department is now equipped with this TurboDraft portable fire pump. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources covered half the cost through a volunteer fire assistance grant. Manson was among six area fire departments to receive such grants.
Six area fire departments will be better equipped to handle field fires thanks to Volunteer Fire Assistance grants awarded by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
More than $289,000 in 50 percent cost-share grants were recently awarded to 115 of Iowa’s rural fire departments. The grants are to be used to help aid their efforts in protecting Iowans and their property from wildfires.
The grants offer valuable funding assistance for wildfire suppression, personal protective gear and communications equipment, according to the DNR.
The grants are made possible through Iowa DNR Forestry in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service.
Dayton, Duncombe, Lehigh, Manson, Rockwell City and Stratford, are among the recipients.
The Dayton Fire Department received $3,500. The department is using the funds for new Iowa Statewide Interoperable Communications System radios.
“It’s the new radio system the county is going to,” said Fire Chief Luke Hainzinger. “Those new radios will improve our fire ground communications. It’s essential to communicate with all firemen on the scene.”
Webster County moved to a digital radio system within the last year.
Hainzinger is grateful for the additional funding.
“Those grants provide equipment to departments that might otherwise not be able to afford what they need,” Hainzinger said.
The Duncombe Fire Department used the $3,500 grant to help outfit its new apparatus, said Fire Chief Todd Bingham.
“We recently ordered a new apparatus,” Bingham said. “The grant will help outfit the apparatus with some gear and some radios.”
The Lehigh Fire Department was awarded $3,500. That money will go toward new radios, according to Fire Chief Aaron Morris.
“It helps us on the scene,” Morris said. “We have had quite a few brush fires. It will help us communicate with other departments.”
Manson used its $1,645 grant to go toward a piece of equipment used for pulling water from a remote site.
“We purchased a TurboDraft,” said David Hoeppner, a Manson firefighter. “It’s a water induction system for pulling water from a remote site. You can lay this out with hoses and force water through it.”
The TurboDraft will help the department get more water more quickly to areas that need it.
“Having this, we are able to pull out of water sources we normally can’t,” Hoeppner said. “It enables us around Twin Lakes to supply up to 700 gallons per minute to a fire truck. Normally when we are shuttling water, we would only be able to do about 500 gallons a minute doing that.”
Hoeppner said the equipment is currently being used.
“We have it and have trained on it and are looking to purchase another one,” Hoeppner said.
The Rockwell City Fire Department spread out its $1,786 in funds.
“We got some fire pagers, some class A foam and a drip torch,” said Fire Chief Shane Voith.
Voith said pagers wear out over time.
“There’s a certain life on pagers and they get lost,” Voith said.
The class A foam is mixed with water.
“You turn on the foam and it will mix with the water that comes out to help fight the fire better,” Voith said.
The drip torch will be used for controlled burns.
“All of this equipment is needed,” Voith said. “If we have a few times where we break more pagers than we have in stock then we get them repaired. The pagers keep our members available for the calls. The other equipment is useful for mitigating the wildfire as qucikly as possible. We only have so many budgeted dollars we can use so the assistance helps us get stuff we may not otherwise be able to afford.”
In Statford, Fire Chief Dan Ostreem reported that the department received $3,500.
“We are using it to buy portable radios,” Ostreem said. “There’s been a switch over to the digital system and the radios are higher priced. Everyone is looking for grants. With those matching funds we are able to purchase two with that. Seven thousand dollars will buy us two radios.”
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