Fire Chief Ben Mickuleit announced last week that the Matlacha/Pine Island Fire Control District's new extrication equipment has arrived. "This is a really exciting time for us," Mickuleit said. "We've been waiting for this for a long time now."
The amount of money the district has available to deliver necessary services is based on property taxes and following the recession, money for new equipment was scarce.
"Before the recession hit, the taxes collected enabled us to buy much of the equipment we still have today," Mickuleit said. "The National Fire Protection Association regulations state that extraction tools must be replaced every 10 years but some of our extraction tools date back to 1996."
The department worked hard to raise the money needed for new extrication equipment.
"Before the millage increase this year, we held fish frys, received donations and sold T-shirts to raise the money for new equipment," Mickuleit said. "We probably raised close to $20,000 but a single set costs $25,000 to $30,000 and we need three sets one set for each truck. A complete set includes a spreader, cutter and a ram."
The M/PIFCD provides emergency response to fires, medical calls, hazardous material incidents, natural disasters, vehicle crashes and any other emergency scenario. Last year, the department ran 1,640 calls.
The new tools arrived two weeks ago and last week a representative from Holmatro arrived at Fire Station #1 for demonstration and training.