Chief Bob Schafer said the new station will allow the volunteer firefighters to have a quicker response time in the area. The department will continue to operate its main fire station in Pleasant Plains.“Our district isn’t growing in size, but our population is shifting,” Schafer said. “Originally, when the fire department was started in Pleasant Plains, the major population was in Pleasant Plans. We’ve gotten a lot of influx from Springfield, people moving out closer to Plains, and our population has shifted. We need to take care of our people in this area. We don’t want to leave them out.

”On Sunday, an open house was held to give people a look at the new station. Schafer said the new station is open, and they are ready to start running calls from the facility.

The new station was built at a cost of about $200,000 and has four vehicle bays. Initially, it will house three vehicles: an engine, a rescue truck and a brush truck. The engine, also called a pumper because it pumps water, was purchased used for $70,000 and the rescue truck was purchased used for $50,000.


Schafer said the new station was built without a tax increase.

However, for more than two dozen firefighters, they’re preparing for the worst case scenario.

"In a structure, the fire starts out small and leads to a big event, where ARFF or aircraft starts out big. Your main climax of the event is right when it happens. You can have a lot of people in a small amount of area, and there's just certain things you have to do right away that are different. You have to train on every area once every 12 months,” Kearney volunteer firefighter Seth Lunbery said.

The Federal Aviation Administration requires fire stations near airports to go through the training and recertification every year, and for the last few years, the department has used instructors from the University of Missouri.

"The department of transportation for Missouri - MODOT - said, 'Hey, we'll buy this mobile airplane for the central region - Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri - so they can get hands-on training and be able to use their own vehicles, their own hoses and people and mutual aide departments,” UM Aircraft Rescue Firefighting Specialist Mark Lee said.

The training offers a classroom setting, but the real fun lies within the hands on activities.

"I think the community expect us to be prepared for an event, and when they come and get out on the planes out here and fly to Denver and back, they want to know that if something does happen that they're going to be safe landing and we'll tend to that emergency the best that we can,” Kearney Volunteer Fire Department fire administrator Jason Whalen said.

The university brings along with them a mock airplane, which ignites in several different locations as well as gives firefighters the ability to extricate mannequin victims from the inside.

The AFG program allows first responders to purchase firefighting equipment, implement wellness programs that focus on health, and improve facilities. Funds can be used for a variety of needs, including new protective equipment, health and safety modifications to stations and training for emergency personnel.

U.S. Congressman Dave Loebsack commented on the grant for the Clinton firefighters saying, “Our firefighters and first responders stand ready to serve us the moment disaster strikes. This funding will ensure that they are able to have the equipment necessary to respond quickly to emergencies and keep our families and communities safe.”