Linden VFD

John Darr

* 2. Will this grant benefit more than one department? x - Yes No

3. If you answered Yes to Question 2 above, please specify how? (You can only enter 4000 characters)

THE DEPT HAS NO MEANS OF SHUTTLING LARGE QUANTITIES OF WATER,WHETHER IT BE A STRUCTURE FIRE OR WOODLAND FIRE. A TANKER WOULD STRENGTHEN OUR FIREFIGHTING CAPABILITY IN THESE TIMES OF LITTLE OR NO WATER SUPPLYS TO DRAFT FROM. OUR COUNTY HAS 50% OF ITS DRY HYDRANTS OUT OF SERVICE DUE TO NO WATER. A TANKER AT LINDEN VOL FIRE DEPT WOULD SUPPORT THE EAST SIDE OF THE COUNTY,WITH THE LACK OF WATER SUPPLIES ACROSS THE COUNTY A TANKER WOULD HELP SUPPORT THE 9 OTHER COMPANIES IN THEIR TIME OF NEED FOR WATER.THE ADDITION OF A TANKER AT LINDEN VOL FIRE WOULD SUPPORT 3 OTHER TANKERS,WHICH ARE IN THE COUNTY.THESE TANKERS COVER A SUPPORT AREA OF SOME 200 SQ MILES,WITH A POPULATION OF SOME 31584 PEOPLE.WE STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT THE ADDITION OF A TANKER A LINDEN VOL FIRE DEPT,WOULD STRENGTHEN OUR WATER SUPPLY INFASTRUCTURE COUNTY WIDE.THIS PROVIDES A BETTER AND STRONGER SERVICE TO OUR PEOPLE IN THE COUNTY WHEN THE ONLY WAY TO PUT OUT THE FIRE IS THE WATER THAT YOU BRING WITH YOU.

Narratives
Please provide your narrative statement in the space provided below:

The Linden Volunteer Fire Department is seeking $166,500 for the purchase of a tanker and associated equipment to fully equip the vehicle to operational NFPA standards. The need for a tanker to support our calls has become a very critical issue. With a decade of dry hydrological cycles coupled with rapid population over the past decade, we have found our common sources of water for firefighting, dry hydrants, streams and ponds, are now drying up. Our closest reliable water supply to our station is at Station 1 in the town of Front Royal, 7 miles away. Our first due area of 12 square miles has a population of 6371, in a heavy forested, mountainous area. Linden has the largest population with the least amount of available firefighters compared to surrounding Warren county communities. This is due to the fact that most people who live in our area work over 1 hour away. All of our homes are constructed in a urban/wildland interface area with no immediately available water supply. In addition, our first due area covers approximately 16 miles of interstate highway which is heavily traveled with hazardous material truck traffic. The community depends on LVFD to bring its own water source for fire suppression. Our combined water supply is 1250 gallons on two engines. With one engine having to remain on scene while the other shuttles water, our turn around time is greater than 30 minutes. Current mobile water supplies are deployed by individual departments to the western and southern ends of the county, which significantly delays response time. We strongly believe a tanker will provide a much needed supply of water for fire suppression, making our job much easier, but most importantly providing better service to our community. This project cannot be funded locally due to a rapid, unplanned growth in population, and no facilities to accommodate large-scale fundraisers. The department has gone from running 551 calls in 2000 to an anticipated call volume of 1000 in 2002. Neither local planners nor the department itself was able to anticipate a doubling in calls in only two years that has left us stretched nearly beyond our capacity. We further believe that due to the lack of water access across the county, the addition of a tanker will benefit our mutual aid response to the 9 neighboring companies within our county, in addition to the counties of Frederick, Clarke and Fauquier. Whether it is woodlands or structural fire, a tanker would help us in achieving our common goal, which is safety of public and personal property, and firefighting personnel against all fire related hazards.

BACK