Esbon Fire Department
Richard Fischer
Our Esbon Fire Dept #3 would like to purchase a new
pumper-tanker fire truck for our department.
This truck would be a 1500 gallon pumper-tanker with a 1000 gallon per
minute pump. It would be equipped with
an around the pump foam system to supply each outlet with foam. It should have scene spotlights and
floodlights to be able to light up a rural scene or highway accident. It should have a generator on board to run
these lights or any other electrical appliance needed at a fire scene, accident
or for warning devises for storm & community emergencies. The truck should be equipped with NFPA
equipment to make it fully operational.
If we were able to
obtain this truck it would be used as a pumper for our small rural community
and as a rural grass tanker. It should
help out on our ISO rating which would save the community some insurance
dollars.
Our truck would
help three counties and two states. We
often assist the Formoso,
Things that we
have to consider as possible danger spots are: - Our local elevator stores
anhydrous ammonia and dry fertilizer and sets three blocks south of the Middle
School which houses approximately thirty-five students plus faculty. Griffith Transport, a locally owned company,
hauls gasoline and propane to other places.
They have two tanker trucks that park overnight on his lot here in town.
The gas station sets just one block south of the school and has above ground
storage for its bulk supply of gas and diesel. The railroad runs through our
community. It is an older line and not
well maintained. We have at least one
train a day running through the area. .
The concern here is for accidents or grass fires.
We also have to
consider protection for a new sunflower processing plant just four miles to the
east of Esbon. This facility would have
no means of supplying enough water for fighting a structural fire. With this type of plant coming into our area
we feel the local farmers will grow more sunflowers. The harvesting of sunflowers is notorious for
creating static electricity and causing combine fires. We expect to have more calls for this type of
fire.
We would like to
use our truck as a multipurpose truck and hope to put the Jaws of Life on it
within the first year or two after we get it. We have four EMT’s and two first
responders. We also have a newer ambulance we house in our fire departments
building. The county currently has only
one set of extrication tools and they are over twenty years old. They are located in
Esbon is located
just two miles to the north of US Highway 36 and on KS Highway 112. US-36 has an ever increasing amount of
traffic each year. According to the
State of
The county in
which we live is considered a poor county with a population of three thousand
seven hundred and forty five people. The
median age for the county is forty-eight years of age and the median household
income is twenty eight thousand five hundred and fifty dollars per year. (These figures can be found at
www.census.org) Our local budget of ten thousand dollars per year barely covers
our utilities and keeping our trucks in good condition. We have just over twenty four thousand
dollars in the fireman's relief fund. We
raise about seven hundred dollars per year with soup suppers, ice cream socials
and an occasional donation. The
department is currently working on getting everyone firefighter 1 certified. If we were able to obtain this grant for a
new fire truck the pride and moral of the department would be at an all time
high. We feel we would see an increase
in willingness to train and be a part of our local community service.
We can see this
acquisition as an asset, not only to our community, but the whole county and
surrounding counties and our fellow firefighters in these communities. It would also be an asset for other people
that need assistance while traveling our highways.
Our fleet of
emergency vehicles is getting to the point where they are very old and have
mechanical failures all the time costing us money that we need for equipment to
keep our firefighters safe. Our city pumper right now has no brakes and has an
old high pressure pump on it that we can’t get parts for anymore.
We are not a rich
department that can afford to go out and hire a grant writer but just a proud
group of firefighters with a need. The
only way we could ever get a new truck is through this type of program and
would appreciate your serious consideration.
We have the ten percent in place.