Benjamin Bullard
The Cullman Times, Ala.
(MCT)
Oct. 5—Beyond the two paid municipal departments in the cities of Hanceville and Cullman, first-response fire coverage for most of Cullman County comes from one of the 26 volunteer fire departments that operate with no subsidized backing from any connected local government entity.
Fire dues from residents within each department’s coverage area instead help fund each department’s operations annually. Ask any local volunteer fire chief, and they’ll tell you the money doesn’t stretch very far — especially when the cost of even basic turnout gear — to say nothing of response vehicles that cost hundred of thousands of dollars — can run more than $4,000 per set.
That’s why periodic grants are consistently part of the funding structure that helps keep each volunteer department equipped and ready to respond. The county’s rural departments depend on federal funds, typically sought with grant writing help from the Cullman County Economic Development Office, for the day-to-day basics that help volunteer fire fighters do their uncompensated jobs.
Three local department recently received grants through applications made through the Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) program, a FEMA-backed program that for 20 years has aided first responders in obtaining “critically needed equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training and other resources necessary for protecting the public and emergency personnel from fire and related hazards,” according to AFG.
The five-figure grant amounts may not sound like much, but the funds make all the difference in keeping local departments from deploying members into potentially dangerous situations with aging, deteriorating gear. In the latest round of grant awards, West Point received $68,571; Garden City received $33,981, and Battleground was awarded $47,571.
What can you do with that kind of money? All local departments must specify how the funds will be used at the time they make their grant applications, and West Point’s award will help fund the purchase of new handheld radios, according to fire chief Tim Martin. At Battleground, the funds will go toward the purchase of an on-site compressed air filling station to recharge fire fighters’ SCBA air packs — a chore that’s lately required Battleground volunteers to haul their air packs to other county fire stations.
“We did have a small one, but it has just about gone,” explained Battleground fire chief Ryan Woods. “It’s kind of a used one, but this will let us get one for our department, because it wasn’t ideal to have to go to other departments to get our SCBA bottles filled.”
Tiffany Oldacre, a former county economic development grant administrator who helped secure the trio of recent grants, said the federal funds come through a chain of custody overseen by the office of U.S. House Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville), and they’re crucial in keeping the county’s volunteer fire network supplied with equipment their tiny budgets otherwise simply couldn’t afford.
“Most of the departments in Cullman County are strictly volunteer, so they have to rely on fire dues — which is not a lot, in terms of the equipment that they need and the price they have to pay for it. Fire equipment can be very expensive, and of course it eventually wears out and has to be replaced. These grants help with funds that can be used right in the communities where these volunteers live and serve every day — and Cullman County’s volunteer fire departments are very much a part of their communities.”
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(c)2022 The Cullman Times (Cullman, Ala.)
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