After detailing the tradition, MFD Chief Jeff Anderson welcomed those in attendance and recognized several people in the audience, including Morehead City Council and all those who worked behind the scenes to make the purchase possible.

Anderson then talked briefly about the fire department’s mission to protect the community.

“This is something we’ve been looking at over the past few years as something our city really needed to help protect our downtown area with the college, hospital, residential areas and other businesses,” Anderson said. “The Mayor and Council said that public safety was a main priority and they proved it by allowing us to move forward on this purchase. Our mission is to serve and protect this community and this is a great step forward in helping us accomplish our goals.”

Anderson said he, along with assistant chief John Northcutt, and a few others in a “tight circle,” worked closely to help find the right apparatus for Morehead.

“The grant [from Firehouse Subs] helps free up more money for us for other ventures because this covered half of the price for these state-of-the-art rescue tools for vehicle extraction,” Prince Frederick Volunteer Fire Department Chief Fred Holzberger said Wednesday at a live demonstration event at the Firehouse Subs Restaurant in Prince Frederick.

From the foundation, Holzberger’s department got extrication equipment worth $30,000 that will allow first responders to cut through materials and reach car accident victims in need of medical attention.

At the southern end of Calvert, the Solomons Volunteer Rescue Squad and Fire Department received three Lucas fully-automated compression systems valued at nearly $35,000. The CPR devices will help first responders deliver uninterrupted chest compressions at a constant rate and depth to patients in cardiac arrest and improve the patients’ chances of survival.

Mechanicsville Volunteer Fire Department in St. Mary’s County received new rope rescue and vehicle stabilization equipment worth $7,300.

Before sending firefighters into potential danger on the ground, the drones will help fire officials develop a strategy.

“In particular, we have used them at fires, Hazmat incidents, accident reconstruction, brush fires, search and rescue, people lost in the water, and those types of things,” said Corpus Christi Fire Department Battalion Chief Jim DeVisser.

The department has two drones that not only provide a 360 degree aerial view of the destruction, but also have thermal imaging cameras that allow firefighters to see through smoke. And with the two additional drones they will be getting, the sky is the limit.

Garrett Fire Chief Eddie Miner stated the $100,000 grant expands the department’s capability to serve residents. Grant funds went toward the purchase of a new Ford F-550 brush truck. The vehicle is anticipated to go into service in October.

“We applied for the grant a year and a half ago. It really helps the small departments get the equipment they need in at a fraction of the cost,” Miner said. “The truck gives us more ways to respond to calls than before.”

According to the Texas Forest Service website, the Texas Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance Program provides funding to rural volunteer fire departments for the acquisition of firefighting vehicles, fire and rescue equipment, protective clothing, dry-hydrants, computer systems, and training. The program is allotted $17.3 million to fund these requests each year.

Miner stated the vehicle replaced a 1999 Ford that was built and retrofitted by the department to be used on fire calls. The new truck was built from the ground up to go on emergency calls in Alvarado.