GOLIAD COUNTY, Texas – The Berclair Volunteer Fire Department soon will be able to purchase 13 new sets of personal protective equipment, thanks to a $4,730 grant from the Lower Colorado River Authority.

The Community Development Partnership Program grant will enable the department to replace its outdated wildland firefighting gear, significantly improving safety for its volunteer firefighters.

“As an entity that was formed about two years ago, much of our current equipment was handed down from other programs,” said Robert Zavesky, fire chief of Berclair Volunteer Fire Department. “While we’re extremely grateful for those donations, the gear is worn out and no longer up to code.”

He said the new safety gear is vital to protecting the community and firefighters.

“A couple of months ago, we were fighting a 200-acre grass fire but had to attack it from a distance because it wasn’t safe to approach the head of the fire in old, worn equipment,” he said. “With this new gear, our volunteer firefighters will be able to safely combat fires more effectively and efficiently.

Zavesky said without the grant, the department would have had to rely on local fundraising efforts that could have taken months or even years.

“This is only the second grant our department has ever received, and it’s a huge help,” Zavesky said. “As a small, rural volunteer fire department, we rely heavily on local fundraising efforts to keep things running. Receiving this support from LCRA means a lot – it helps us protect our firefighters immediately and, in turn, the communities we serve.”

In addition to serving Goliad County, the Berclair VFD responds to fires in neighboring communities including Beeville, Goliad, Schroeder, Ander, Weesatche, Fannin and Refugio.

The community grant is one of 45 grants awarded recently through LCRA’s Community Development Partnership Program, which helps volunteer fire departments, local governments, emergency responders and nonprofit organizations fund eligible capital improvement projects in LCRA’s wholesale electric, water and transmission service areas. The program is part of LCRA’s effort to give back to the communities it serves.

Applications for the next round of grants will be accepted in July 2025. More information is available at lcra.org/cdpp.

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Don Wilkins – Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.

A crowd gathered Thursday to dedicate the Walter Freeman Training Center that has been designed to carry the city’s fire department into the future.

Built for $5.525 million, the training center at 1323 Daviess St. includes a new four story fire tower, vehicle bays and a classroom for indoor training.

Fire Chief James Howard said the city began developing the property in 1946, with Freeman leading the charge to turn it into a training area for firefighters.

“…Chief Walter Freeman not only left a mark on this organization, but significantly contributed to the continuing evolution of the property that we’re standing on right now,” Howard told the crowd.

Howard said the original drill tower was a wooden structure that was replaced when Freeman became chief in 1973.

“…That was the year in which he oversaw the replacement of that drill tower, that he’d helped build, with a concrete block design as well the addition of a classroom building….” Howard said.

It was shortly after Freeman’s death in 1985 that the training center was named after him.

“Time has certainly passed and a new generation has seized the opportunity to remake and expand these training grounds to meet our needs and the training needs of those to come,” Howard said. “We rededicate these grounds with honor and respect to Chief Walter L. Freeman in recognition of his contributions to this department and this city over his tenure.”

Along with Freeman, two other former firefighters — Starling Lambert and David W. McCrady, have their names attached to areas of the training facility.

Lambert, who served as chief from 1952 to 1970, has been memorialized with the Starling J. Lambert Burn Room, which is the first floor of the new tower.

“…His name from today forward will be synonymous with a space where new recruits are tested to prove that they have what it takes to do this job,” Howard said.

McCrady, who served as the department’s training chief, has been memorialized with the David W. McCrady Classroom.

“…His passion for firefighting was contagious,” Howard said. “He was a mentor; he was a teacher and a friend with a huge heart….”

The fire training center is part of the city’s effort to modernize fire facilities through the “Operation Firehouse” program. By the time the program is complete, all of OFD’s facilities, except for Station 5, will have either been remodeled or replaced.

The training center will also be available to county and volunteer firefighters, city officials said.

OFD had been using the old ABC Rentals building on the site for training, but has converted the building into storage. Howard said there are plans to use the building in a different capacity but wasn’t ready to announce those details yet.

Mayor Tom Watson said investing in the city fire department’s training center and its stations has been a priority.

“Public safety is our main concern as elected officials,” Watson said. “…It’s been needed for a while, because when that fire is going on, they need to be protected and they need to be trained well; they have families at home, too.”

The training center also contains safety features such as diesel exhaust filtering systems and fire turnout gear extractors to reduce cancer causing carcinogens that firefighters are exposed to.

Howard, who leads a department of 100 firefighters, said having the training center in a centralized location provides convenience and visibility to the department.

“…We could’ve built it way out in the county and something to make bigger over the years, but it would’ve been harder for us to train,” Howard said. “We train almost every day so trucks can come here to a central location. That’s the

NEW ENGINES Expected to be Delivered Within a Year

HOLDEN, Louisiana (May 1, 2025) – Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corp. (KME), a subsidiary of REV Group and a leading manufacturer of fire apparatus, announces that San Bernardino County Fire Protection District has ordered 10 K-180 pumpers, which is a pre-engineered, modular design that can be built and delivered faster than fully customized units. KME’s California dealer, Fire Apparatus Solutions, is responsible for the order and will handle the service and aftermarket support for the units.

The order comes following the approval from the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors to allow the fire department to update its frontline fleet. These units will be put into service immediately and then used as reserves once more customized fire apparatus are delivered. REV Fire Group designed and launched the modular series to simplify the purchasing process, accelerate the upfront and engineering processes and reduce complexity in manufacturing, allowing for more rapid delivery of new apparatus.

“This money from the Board allowing the purchase of these additional fire engines will give us operational depth that allows us to flex and rise to the needs of additional emerging incidents,” said Chief Eric Sherwin, San Bernardino County Fire Protection District.

These 10 K-180 pumpers (Model #4119) are low hosebed, side-mount pump panel rigs with additional standard features:

• Chassis: Panther EMFD
• Axles: Front 20,000 Lb. / Rear 24,000 Lb.
• Engine: Cummins X12 500hp
• Body: Aluminum
• Pump: Waterous ESU 2000 gpm
• Tank: Poly 500 Gal. Water/ 20 Gal. Foam
• Foam: FoamPro 2001

“San Bernardino County Fire has been a customer of KME pumpers, aerials, and water tenders that have been highly customized to meet their needs. So, we are proud Fire Apparatus Solutions was able to collaborate with the department on the K-180 pumper that will help them continue to protect lives and property across the county,” said Mike Virnig, president, REV Specialty Vehicles Segment.

KME dealer Fire Apparatus Solutions is known for their service abilities and helps fleets with body repair including panel / structural / plumbing modifications and repairs. In addition, Fire Apparatus Solutions offers in-house pick-up and delivery of units and parts, as well as mobile on-site services.

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About Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corp.

KME, a subsidiary of REV Group, Inc. (NYSE: REVG), has been in operation since 1946 and custom manufactures a wide range of fire apparatus for municipal, federal, and wildland/urban interface markets across the U.S. KME specializes in steel aerials with a ‘best in class’ steel structural safety factor of 2.5 to 1 and Severe Service^™ chassis with over a million miles of real world testing at some of the largest fire departments in the U.S. KME is dedicated to engineering products that are tailored to meet the needs of each individual fire department.

About REV Group, Inc.

REV Group companies are leading designers and manufacturers of specialty vehicles and related aftermarket

The Statesboro (GA) Fire Department personnel, family members, and community members gathered recently to “push in” the department’s newest ladder truck, Truck 1, griceconnect.com reported.

The new Truck 1 is a Sutphen SPH 100-foot aerial platform equipped with modern features such as wireless remote-controlled nozzles, an integrated communication system, over 60,000 lumens of scene lighting, a 300-gallon water tank, and a 2,000-gallon-per-minute pump, the report said.

The truck was ordered in September 2024, along with a 75-foot quint, which is expected to arrive in the spring of 2026.

Both trucks were funded through the 2019 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST).

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