An Apparatus Type Grant

[Abbott0489]

It's time for a new rescue truck in our township. Planning has been under way for over a year now, and the truck has been specd out with various manufacturers. We've put in a lot of time on the committee to get exactly what we want, but are now beginning to run into problems.

Our township is basically saying that it is too expensive. I began to wonder in an effort to aid in some of the costs, if there are grants available for apparatus. I'm familiar with TIC and other equipment grants, but none for apparatus...

Thanks in advance for any insight.

[BC79er]

AFG is the usual source for vehicles, but depending on your stats HUD or USDA might also be options. Unless you are classified as urban AFG considers rescue only vehicles to be a low priority, which when it comes to trucks is Priority 2. Only Priority 1 trucks will get funded based on competition, so if you need rescue capabilities then they need to go into a P1 truck to have a chance.

[Abbott0489]

Haha, well forgive me for my ignorance, a lot of that sounds promising, but a lot didn't sink in.

Our squad already has a heavy rescue, which is now 12 years old. It was slated by the township for replacement this year, but they are now telling us that the $750,000 or so cannot easily be afforded by them.

They are putting the purchase out to refferendum for the public to decide. This would mean an increase in taxes for all residents, and we would doubt it would pass the vote solely for that reason. By some miracle if it passes, the township still has the option to say no even if it's what the public wants.

I'm looking for an option like a bargaining chip in a sense. To take the amount that the township has to pay, and lessen it if we could find a grant. Show them they aren't paying for the whole thing...

By what your saying, since we are already replacing a vehicle that has rescue capabilities, it will be priority 2 and most likely not qualify?

[celsokid]

Not exactly. whether or not you are replacing a vehicle does not determine priority. FEMA has determined their own guidelines for priority of vehicles funded and rescues just happen to be a lower priority than pumpers, tankers, brush/quick attack. Priority one vehicles have a much greater chance of being funded than priority twos, like rescues. Secondly a big factor is age of the vehicle being replaced, and overall age of your fleet. A vehicle that is 12 years old is not as competitive for a grant as departments asking to replace vehicles that are 20 years old. Thirdly, it is quite rare for FEMA to award a vehicle for more than 300k. I don't have the numbers but I would guess they have funded fewer than 10 above 300k.

[hoserbt]

you mentioned the age is important. we have a 1964 old sucker truck that was converted to carry water and is need of replacment. we also have a 1998 tanker that is our primary tanker ata this point. does fema have any stance on how many tankers are acceptable for a department with no hydrants in their area. I was thinking of writting for a replacement of the 1964 tanker. Our bruch truck, 2 engines, and one tanker are 1992 or newer.

[celsokid]

you mentioned the age is important. we have a 1964 old sucker truck that was converted to carry water and is need of replacment. we also have a 1998 tanker that is our primary tanker ata this point. does fema have any stance on how many tankers are acceptable for a department with no hydrants in their area. I was thinking of writting for a replacement of the 1964 tanker. Our bruch truck, 2 engines, and one tanker are 1992 or newer.

FEMA doesn't specify how many you can have. It does specify that departments with fewer, or no vehicles of one type will be more competitive than departments with several. In other words, should you write a grant to replace your 64 tanker you would be less competitive than another department that runs with a similar vehicle but has no other tanker.

[hoserbt]

looks like it might be time to start on that tanker now. thanks for the info

[ktb9780]

Haha, well forgive me for my ignorance, a lot of that sounds promising, but a lot didn't sink in.

Our squad already has a heavy rescue, which is now 12 years old. It was slated by the township for replacement this year, but they are now telling us that the $750,000 or so cannot easily be afforded by them.

They are putting the purchase out to refferendum for the public to decide. This would mean an increase in taxes for all residents, and we would doubt it would pass the vote solely for that reason. By some miracle if it passes, the township still has the option to say no even if it's what the public wants.

I'm looking for an option like a bargaining chip in a sense. To take the amount that the township has to pay, and lessen it if we could find a grant. Show them they aren't paying for the whole thing...

By what your saying, since we are already replacing a vehicle that has rescue capabilities, it will be priority 2 and most likely not qualify?

The answer to your question is "no" it will not be replaced even with the scenario you propose. It is still a priority 2 vehicle and priority 2 vehicles have not been funded in more than 3 years.Second, it is only 12 years of age and it pretty much has to be at least 20 years even if it is a priority 1 vehicle. Third only 16 vehicles of the 965 funded last year were above $300,000 mark and only 2 were over $500,000 yet there were over 9K applicatons for vehicles.;)