East Chilton Fire Department is a rural volunteer department operating with 29 volunteers in a response area of approximately 3800 people. 
East Chilton Fire Department borders 3 fire departments with which it has automatic aid agreements and has mutual aid agreements with the 
remaining 11 fire departments in Chilton County. 
 
The needs of our community have greatly increased in the past years with a population growth of 40% and a call volume increase of 110% 
from 1998 – 2003. We expect the growth to continue with the industrial growth within Chilton County. With this large amount of growth expected we are 
trying desperately to keep up with the demands placed on the fire department. East Chilton Fire Department does not have the 
budget to purchase the essential equipment to ensure we are operating to the national standard. Providing the highest level of 
safety to our firefighters and our customers is our primary goal. A grant such as this one is the only other alternative to ensuring 
the safety of our firefighters and customers. 
 
East Chilton Fire Department functions on a very limited budget. Our money is derived from a mill tax levied on property, which 
gives our department an annual operating budget of $41,000.00. With truck payments of $18,000.00 and $10,000.00 used to 
purchase gas, oil, repairs, maintenance, utilities, and other everyday operating expenses there is not enough funds left over to 
purchase the other equipment we desperately need. 
 
Thermal Imagery: $9,500.00 
 
This equipment will improve our RIT capabilities and will allow faster rescue times in such an incident. This equipment will be 
used in day-to-day operations to improve life safety and property conservation within the entire county. This equipment will be 
available for mutual aid response throughout the entire county of approximately 40,000 residents. There is only one other 
thermal imaging camera in the county. We feel one camera serving 40,000 residents is inadequate and the residents and 
firefighters will be better protected with this additional camera in the county. 
 
S.C.B.A and spare bottles – 12: $4,000.00 each 
RIT Pack and 60 minute RIT cylinder: $2,450.00 
 
The self-contained breathing apparatus we are currently using are over 10 years old. These apparatus are no longer NFPA compliant. 
We are part of a large mutual response group in our area. Having an adequate supply of compliant breathing apparatus on our 
fire apparatus allows us to meet the safety needs of mutual aid departments as well as our own. The Rapid Intervention concept is 
based on having well trained personnel with the proper equipment readily available. Having a RIT pack with the proper fittings to 
accommodate mutual aid departments reduces the intervention time and increases life safety factors. 
 
Personal Protective Equipment – 10: $1400.00 each 
 
Our objective is to adequately equip and protect our 25 volunteer firefighters. Only 15 or 60% of the firefighters have personal 
protective equipment that meets current NFPA and/or OSHA requirements. 
The grant and local funds in this project will purchase 10 complete turnout gear sets bringing our department up to 100% compliance. 
 
Extrication Equipment: $26,421.00 
 
We are requesting this equipment to provide better service to our customers and to be able to provide mutual aid with 
extrication equipment. This equipment will allow us to be prepared to handle major traffic wrecks and industrial accidents. 
 
Training: $2,500.00 
 
This is being requested to purchase a projector and projector screen to use with computer programs to aide our State 
Certified Fire Instructor to better present training materials to firefighters throughout the county. Studies have shown that 
visual aides provide a better learning environment for students than lecture alone.