This time around, the committee granted funding for a $15,450-pilot project to test a Flameguard fire suppression tool that cools fires to help crews more safely extinguish them.  

Another $13,000 three-year pilot study of virtual reality firefighter training also won approval.

Firefighters moved into the new facility at 4201 S. 113th W. Avenue July 23 and the old station, which was just adjacent to the new one and reportedly opened in 1968, was demolished shortly after that. The celebration Saturday featured free hot dogs and inflatables for children.

Fire Chief Mike Wood said the new building is about 640 square feet bigger than the previous building, is a single story where the old one had two and the apparatus bays’ overhead doors in the new facility provide more clearance for fire trucks. It will reportedly house up to six firefighters at a time. Former Sand Springs Deputy Fire Chief Tom Jenkins, who left the department in 2009, returned to Sand Springs for the grand opening and delivered remarks.

“Ohio firefighters and first-responders work every day to protect our families,” said Brown, who released the information in a Monday moring press release. “We must support our first-responder organizations so that communities like Galion have the resources to shield families and homes from fire hazards.”  

The AFG Program supports fire departments across the country to ensure the safety of both first-responders and the public. The program provides funds for supplemental training, upgrades to protective equipment, facility modifications, and other supplies that protect firefighters and first-responders in moments of crisis.