NORTH VERNON — Two local volunteer fire departments will receive assistance in purchasing needed gear and equipment, and all county departments will receive assistance with training for the next month.
The North Vernon Fire Department will conduct specialized training for members of all local volunteer fire departments for the next four weeks, using special equipment on loan from the state.
On July 17, the Campbell Township and Vernon volunteer fire departments were announced as two of 64 departments statewide that would be receiving an Indiana Department of Natural Resources Volunteer Fire Assistance grant. Each will receive a $5,000 grant.
Campbell Township will use its grant to purchase new digital radio equipment, and Vernon will use its funding to purchase two turnout suits — the gear firefighters wear to protect themselves from burns.
Improving communication
“When you are walking towards a fire, it is very important that you can communicate to other firefighters and emergency personnel. We’ve been working for years to improve our radio equipment and this money will be another piece of that process,” Campbell Township Fire Chief Don Biehle said.
The township’s analog radio equipment is 25 years old and the department wants to move to digital equipment because it is more reliable, Biehle said. Digital radio equipment will also allow the Campbell Township department to communicate with other fire departments.
“The volunteer firefighter system won’t work unless all the departments work together, and we can’t work together if we can’t communicate with each other,” Biehle said.
Personal protection
Vernon Fire Chief Britt Burgmeier said the department’s grant would help its firefighters be better protected when fighting fires.
“Turnout suits are the most important protective gear. They save lives,” he said.
The department already had raised enough money to buy two new turnout suits, so with the grant the department will have four new sets of the personal protective gear, Burgmeier said. Each suit costs $2,500, he added.
Vernon Fire Department volunteers have been working with old turnout suits. The department has about 20 suits, but most of them are in bad shape, Burgmeier said.
Vital training
North Vernon Fire Chief Mike Cole has been working for a year to use special training equipment for all county fulltime and volunteer firefighters.
“Without the right training and equipment, your chances of surviving are very low,” Cole said.
With the threat to firefighters in mind, Cole has secured the use of a $450,000 trailer created and operated by the Department of Defense and the Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office.
The self-contained trailer was designed to replicate different stages of a smoke-filled flaming house. In the trailer, firefighters face a series of flame events that give opportunities of training designed to show firefighters what to do to stay alive.
North Vernon Fire Department will conduct survival training for all county fire departments during the next 30 days.
