Got our truck

[MarionMedic]

We got the word today by reading the newspaper.
Can't believe they didn't call.
Anyway, this is our press release.................

The truck is a raised roof custom Rosenbaur with 6 man cab, top mount, CAFS, and will be the first custom in our area for VFD.



Marion Volunteer Fire & Rescue (MVFR), announces the reciept of a $235,030 Vehicle aquisition Grant in the 2006 U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFG). The award will be used for new Custom pumper, and will help to further improve safety, lower response time, and save lives.
The announcement came Wednesday from U.S. Sens. Trent Lott and Thad Cochran.
The primary goal of the Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) is to meet the firefighting and emergency response needs of fire departments and nonaffiliated emergency medical services organizations. Since 2001, AFG has helped firefighters and other first responders to obtain critically needed equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training, and other resources needed to protect the public and emergency personnel from fire and related hazards. The Office of Grants and Training in the Department of Homeland Security administers the grants in cooperation with the U.S. Fire Administration. For fiscal year 2005, Congress reauthorized the Assistance to Firefighters Grants for an additional 5 years through 2010.
The MVFR Grant was written and submitted by Fire Captain/Paramedic Don J. Larson who states, "This truck will be a step into the future for the Town of Marion as well as MVFR." "The old truck we're replacing, a 1976 Ford Commercial Grumman Pumper, has been out of service for mechanical problems more often that it has been operational for the past 3 years". Captain Larson is also the Grant Manager and says he has his work cut out for him to get everything in order, but the truck should be delivered in the next 5 to 10 months.
The Department's current first line" pumper, a 1995 E-One, is nearing the end of it's service life.
"The New Fire Apparatus will have a service life of 20 years, as opposed to the 15 year period imposed on commercial chassis trucks" Larson said. "With the Grant picking up 95% of the cost, The Town's portion will only be approximately $600 per year over the 20 year life of the vehicle".
MVFR received a Department of Homeland Security Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) for Equipment in 2005 totaling $146,068, which was also written by Mr. Larson. That grant funded new personal protective equipment, new self-contained breathing apparatus, facility stand-by generator, cascade system, and medical Equipment.
Thankfully, the MVFR does not receive a large volume of calls, but its members are trained, equipped, and prepared to respond when an emergency happens.
The MVFR response area includes the Town of Marion and also mutual aid response to several fire departments including Northeast VFD, Russell VFD, Bailey VFD, and the City of Meridian. This Equipment will also be beneficial to those Departments.
Chief Scott Stokes said, "Thanks to this Grant, the Marion community now has a fire department with trained volunteer firefighters and the Equipment to get the job done effectively".
“None of this would have been possible without the AFG grants,” says Chief Stokes.

[ncfscd6]

Congrats Medic

Just wanted to say congratulations to you on getting that. I saw it posted in the paper yesterday along with the award for Chunky (department I wrote for). These trucks are desperately needed in this area. Hats off to ya and your department!!!!!

[weezride]

Congrats Medic!!!

Sounds like we specd the same truck! Still waiting word on ours yet. If you haven't been to the plant in Lyon, take the time..Those guys are great! They stopped to explain any questions I had.

Big thumbs up from me.

(Of course if we get a DJ I may be calling to get a copy of your application for next year's attempt) )

[MarionMedic]

Thanx everbody.

Now the Chief wants to rethink the manufacturer. Seems there's another truck he saw and.......

I told him to get me the info. but unless it was more truck for less money.....

Ahhh, it feels good to have these problems. LOL

[ktb9780]

and if you thought the wait for the award announcement was agonizing, just see how you feel after waiting for delivery of the new truck. LOL!

[rbh1957]

Way to go Marion

Your department should be proud, you earned it! Not trying to rain on anyones parade or stick my foot in my mouth, but I have to ask. How with a 1995 front line pumper and low call volume did you get funding for a pumper. In all of the AFG training classes I went to and reading the forums for years, it was always stated there was no way it would happen with a truck that new. I know there is more information that is not in your post, I am just tring to learn, we have applied for a truck for 3 years now and still no luck. I am glad for your departments success, if you could help get me out with any info that would be great!!!! e-mail [email protected]

[BC79er_OLDDELETE]

If those are the only two pumpers in the department (1976 & 1995) then the average age is 20 and the unit being replaced is a 1976.

If they had more than one truck 1990 and newer it's a different story. And a much more difficult award to get. Not that this one was easy per se, but on a relative scale 2 truck departments will have a higher score (if all other factors are equal) than a 3 truck department. 1 truck OOS service leaves 1 truck available on one side, 2 on the other.

[fireman8611]

If those are the only two pumpers in the department (1976 & 1995) then the average age is 20 and the unit being replaced is a 1976.

If they had more than one truck 1990 and newer it's a different story. And a much more difficult award to get. Not that this one was easy per se, but on a relative scale 2 truck departments will have a higher score (if all other factors are equal) than a 3 truck department. 1 truck OOS service leaves 1 truck available on one side, 2 on the other.

We only have 2 pumpers and 1 brush truck.
By saying more than one truck, does that include a grass rig?? We have a 1966 Ford pumper, a 2001 E-ONE pumper, and a 2005 grass rig. Want to retire the 66 for a tanker. Would our average age be 22 or 15? And would the brush truck hurt our chances?

[BC79er_OLDDELETE]

Your average is across all vehicles, so 15.

And a definite maybe on the 2nd part of that question. Remember I prefaced the above comment with: if all other factors are equal. The presence of other vehicles, differences in call volume, population, square mileage, etc, etc all come into play.

Between Marion and you, assuming that you both had a 2005 brush truck, they have a 1976 and a 1990. You have a 1966 and a 2001. The year averages are close, but your newest pumper is 11 years newer than theirs. So they will show as more 'needy' than you on paper for that reason.

Of course nothing is really that simple, but it's a starting point. The narrative possibilities are endless. What year did their 1990 replace? Your 2001? What did the 2005 brush truck replace? If you needed a tanker why didn't you keep saving for that instead if the other brush was working still?

Things like that fall into the category I like to call: "the questions that have to be answered without ever being asked." If you can answer everything in that category consistently, you can succeed in the grants game.

[Greenacres2]

That sounds like a long shot Dwayne. You're rural down there, so how often are you shuttling water, how long until mutual aid arrives, etc? The tougher part will be getting past the computer scoring i think. The 15 year average hurts, but the Priority One, top of the list apparatus has been tanker/tender for your kind of dept.

Kurt/Brian--with the "one vehicle per department" thing, and 900 or so per year going out, are either of you beginning to see the demographics for being competitive change?? I know it's still a 1 in 10 or so shot, but i'm also guessing that 20-30% of the vehicle apps going in are wasted shots anyway ("that's what we need", "that's all we want", "i need an aerial because we have a grain elevator" kind of apps). Any trends developing??

earl

[BC79er_OLDDELETE]

Not really, last ball park I heard was that nearly 20k of the 30k departments in the country need at least 1 new truck. So 10 years of 900 trucks won't cover half.

[tfentress]

New Truck

I came across this thread and found it to be interesting because my department is in the same boat. My department needs a new Heavy Rescue. Currently we run a modified old Ambulance, that houses our rescue equiptment in it. We run numerous calls on I-65 (which we cover about 10 miles) not to mention US 231 and State Rd 10. We run more accident and rescue calls then fires. As you can see this is Priority number 1 for us. Does anybody think we have a shot at getting a grant like this?

Thanks for the advise,
Tom
Keener Twp

[Catch22]

and if you thought the wait for the award announcement was agonizing, just see how you feel after waiting for delivery of the new truck. LOL!

Man, that's the boat we're in now. Nothing against the Rosenbauer guys, but we've been delayed twice now having to get extensions both times. But we went a week ago and witnessed it being built and have a due date of Nov. 11th. I'm more antsy than I was when we were waiting to get confirmation of award!

[ktb9780]

I came across this thread and found it to be interesting because my department is in the same boat. My department needs a new Heavy Rescue. Currently we run a modified old Ambulance, that houses our rescue equiptment in it. We run numerous calls on I-65 (which we cover about 10 miles) not to mention US 231 and State Rd 10. We run more accident and rescue calls then fires. As you can see this is Priority number 1 for us. Does anybody think we have a shot at getting a grant like this?

Thanks for the advise,
Tom
Keener Twp

Tom are you rural, call volume? Unless you are considered "urban" I don't see this in the cards for you, as it is not a Prioroty 1 vehicle in the matrix and they have not funded anything but priority 1 for three years now.

[Greenacres2]

Kurt beat me to the punch. Here's the matrix from the 2006 Program Guidance (PG):
(all right, that didn't work. But it's a Priority 2 for rural departments.)

The PG can be found at www.firegrantsupport.com, look at the AFG section. Good background for starting. Chief Grants (www.chiefgrants.com) had an annotated version, if i recall correctly. Not sure if it's still up, but you can kill a few days on their web site if you don't have a life to start with. I've been wrong a few times. At least once.

earl (CAUTION:following the link to governmentliquidators.com can be hazardous to your health, your vehicle and your family life. But... it's way cool!!)