Submitted by David M. Przybysz, Assistant Chief and John Syka, President
Hey Folks! We did it! By the time this article goes to print, we – hopefully – will have made it through the winter weather and be anxiously awaiting the spring rains to bring green grass and pretty flowers back to our community.
We cannot thank you enough for the generosity you have shown us this past year. From the onset of COVID-19, through the cancellation of our major fundraisers, you have had our backs and have shown us unwavering support!
As we stated before, with large public gatherings prohibited, fundraising became a major concern for us. A few of our members got together and organized our online tip board raffles on our Facebook page. The public participation was so overwhelming that we didn’t even need to advertise them! These raffles provided entertainment as well as some really great prizes.
It was so comforting that in this time of uncertainty, when people are out of work or worried that they soon will be and are watching every penny, to know that while we strive to help others, you are helping us in turn. It is truly a dependent relationship.
Through our regular fund drive letter, the tip boards and several donations, we were, and still are, able to keep up with our operating expenses.
Although we have only resided in our fire station since the year 2000, the building itself is much older. There is a constant expense for maintenance and repairs. Through your donations, grants, and with the help of our township administrators, we are able to keep from getting too far behind when things wear out or unexpectedly break.
Firefighter Hunter Hagy works on a mutual aid fire in Big Beaver Borough in November 2020.
The same can be said for our trucks! Can you believe those big gleaming white trucks are 18 years old?
We are very proud of the fact that our rigs look and perform like they are much newer. Our members wash our trucks after every call. That was over 300 washes last year!
A strong effort is made to keep up on routine maintenance and to schedule repairs immediately when needed. As you can imagine repairs are usually expensive. A repair to your passenger car that cost a couple of hundred dollars can easily cost a couple of thousand for the same repair on one of our rigs.
Unfortunately, they do not offer grants for everything and some things just have to be paid for out of pocket. With your help, we have been able to keep on keeping on!
One thing we did receive a grant for is new SCBA equipment (Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus). Through a grant issued by FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, we have replaced all of our breathing apparatus including new face pieces and spare air cylinders. This will help keep our firefighters safe with the latest technology when entering and working in hazardous environments. At a cost of over $160,000, receiving that grant was a life saver and the new units should be arriving shortly.
We apply for grants on a regular basis. We are looking to upgrade our worn out and outdated radios to keep up with new technologies. We’ve applied for a grant to update our breathing air compressor and fill station, as well as several other grants.
We work very hard, constantly looking for creative ways to provide the very best fire protection while keeping costs as low as possible.
We are moving forward this spring with training and social events. It is our hope that with new vaccines and restrictions being slowly lifted that this year we can be more active and visible in providing community service.
In the last several months we have brought in several new recruits and they are all showing great promise.
We have aggressively scheduled new trainings to sharpen our skills and aid us in achieving more certifications.
We have purchased new iPads and programs to help us get our incident reports to the proper agencies in a quicker, more cost-effective manner.
So as you can see, we are not sitting back waiting for things to happen. We are making things happen on our own.
As our world opens up, we ask that you continue to be safe. We look forward to seeing everyone out and about as the weather breaks and we all strive to make 2021 a year of new accomplishments.
