Michael J. Warnick
Please Describe the Project You Are Requesting Funding For.
The South Wheatland Fire Department is requesting FEMA to
fund our Fire Department Preparedness and Response
Improvement program. With this program we would like to
create a new training library to enhance and improve the
knowledge and training resources available to not only our
firefighters, but to other firefighters from surrounding
departments, and also to work towards NFPA 1001 and 1002
requirements. Our goal is to ensure that 100% of our
firefighters are trained to the fullest extent possible and
spread our resources to other surrounding departments to
assist in training their firefighters also. Some of these
departments do not have the resources readily available to
train their personnel, and we feel we can adequately assist
them in providing the training they might need. We would
also like to replace and upgrade our outdated extrication
tools and add to our extrication capabilities. Lastly, we
would like to replace our current portable radios to
improve and enhance fireground communication capabilities.
Without good training and communications equipment, a
firefighter is dead in the water and of no help to anyone
at any incident.
Describe How You Will Spend the Grant Funds As Listed On
The Budget Form
South Wheatland Fire Department will spend approximately
$22,500.00 to purchase a complete set of hydraulic
extrication tools and air bags. A breakdown of the costs
consist of (1) power unit at $5,600.00; (1) hydraulic
spreader at $4,600.00; (1) hydraulic cutter at $4,200.00;
(1) hydraulic ram at $3,500.00, (2) color coded hoses at
$1,200.00, (1) air bag package including a twelve ton,
twenty-two ton, and thirty-two ton air bag at a cost of
$2,200.00; and (1) air bag accessory package at $940.00.
The seller will provide training of the new equipment at no
charge to the department.
South Wheatland Fire Department will spend $4,000.00 to
purchase five Motorola HT – 750 sixteen V.H.F. radios
to
enhance our communication capabilities within the fire
department.
$15,241.25 will be spent to purchase a complete set of
videos, computer software, handbooks, workbooks, and
manuals for both the student and the instructor, quiz
generator, and a fire scene simulator. $2,000 will be
spent for a laptop computer for classroom presentations and
training at other departments. $3,000.00 will be spent for
the portable projector to allow us to present multiple
forms of computer-generated training to both our department
and neighboring departments. Although we are unable to
attach the bid received, it can be provided upon request.
How Will This Program Benefit Your Department and/or
Community
The extrication tools currently owned by the South
Wheatland Fire Department are over twenty-five years old.
Because of the age of our tools, we are not always able to
rely on them to work when we needed. Our tools also will
not cut through new technology found in today’s
vehicles.
The tools currently owned by the department are quite bulky
and weigh a large amount. This requires multiple rescuers
to work on the actual extrication portion of an incident
rather than focusing on the treatment of victims involved.
In addition, the hydraulic fluid used in our tools is
suspected to be hazardous to health. If FIRE act grant
funds are awarded, South Wheatland Fire Department will be
able to purchase updated tools with current technology.
This will enable one or two rescuers only to operate the
tools while the remainder of the rescuers will be able to
focus their energies on victim treatment. We can also be
satisfied in knowing that our tools will work when needed
and will be able to slice through and spread apart the new
technology found in today’s vehicles.
Many of our firefighters have been through
extrication training and new vehicle technology
familiarization training session recently and we have
realized the shortcomings of our system and the need to add
an air bag and set of hydraulic rams to our present rescue
system. If a victim were to be trapped under a vehicle or
piece of farm machinery, our present system would not allow
us to adequately extricate a victim from underneath one of
these machines. Delivery of the new equipment should take
place approximately 90 – 120 days after order if grant
funds are received. While waiting on the new equipment,
training would begin immediately to ensure that no delay
would result in placing this equipment in service.
The portable radios that the South Wheatland Fire
Department has requested will benefit the safety and
accountability of not only our officers, but also our
firefighters on the fireground. Currently, our department
does not have enough radios for every piece of apparatus
owned by the department. This can present multiple
communications problems at a fire, especially when
attempting to put a RIT team in place. A lack of radios
only allows a few interior crews to carry a radio with them
to maintain communications with the incident commander and
other command officers on the fireground. If new radios
were received, this would allow for each officer to have a
current radio with current technology and all attack crews
and RIT teams on the fireground to have a radio and
maintain communications with each other. This will also
help us account for each firefighter.
Our department does not maintain any current IFSTA
training materials, and no other training materials beyond
some videos that were provided by our insurance agency. If
new training materials were received, our firefighters
would benefit by having a great wealth of training
materials at their disposal. We would be able to direct-
deliver training to our firefighters rather than depend on
outside agencies coming in to train our personnel. All
fire personnel will have access to this material around the
clock, being able to study it after working hours if their
current job schedule prohibits them from attending training
on a meeting night. The training videos and software will
assist classroom instruction by introducing and reinforcing
key training concepts of NFPA 1001 and NFPA 1002. Students
will benefit by seeing actual demonstrations and situations
that show correct techniques, equipment, and tactics based
on evolutions that are safer, realistic, and more
effective. Neighboring departments will benefit from our
training materials because we will have current technology
that many do not have. They will be able to send personnel
over to our department to receive training that they might
not have had the funds or means to provide on their own.
South Wheatland Fire Department will also be able to send
representatives from our department to other departments to
provide training at their station in the event that
department(s) cannot make it to our station for training.
Why we are not able to fund this project solely through
local funding
South Wheatland Fire Department currently has a
training budget of only $2,000.00 and an equipment budget
of only $13,000.00. This only leaves us with approximately
$96.00 for training and $619.00 of equipment to spend on
each firefighter. Not a lot of money when you consider all
the responsibility that goes along with our jobs. With the
cost of new extrication, training, and communications
equipment so high and our budget items as low as they are,
we are unable to update our current extrication,
communication, and training equipment for our personnel.
Our tax base is also constantly eroding.
does not protect an actual community, but unincorporated
areas outside of a metropolitan area. This metropolitan
area is consistently annexing in property that reduces our
tax base. The current unemployment rate, as of March 01,
2002 was 8.5% of our population of 83,000 as reported in
the 2000 census. This results in multiple dollar losses
for our department and impedes our chances to purchase new
equipment with updated technology.
Additional relevant information
The South Wheatland Fire Department has a mutual
aid agreement with all the fire departments in
County. The training materials and extrication equipment
we are requesting funding for would be made available to
all departments in the area that might request such
resources. Making this training materials available to
outside departments will present them the opportunity to
meet NFPA 1001 and NFPA 1002. We have always been
proactive in training and encouraging our firefighters to
seek out new forms of training. If the funds for training
are received, we will be able to provide direct-delivery 3
training to our department members and not have to rely as
much on outside training. Training materials will be kept
in-house and our firefighters will receive training in-
house. Specialized training can also be provided,
including hazardous material response, through the programs
we are requesting.
The South Wheatland Fire Department is responsible
for numerous miles of highway and rail traffic that carry
many vehicles and trains per day. The vehicles and trains
that run along these routes consist of new technology that
the fire department does not currently have. Receipt of
the grant funds will allow us to upgrade our current
extrication tools to better serve our customers along these
routes.