SHELBY, Ohio – The Shelby Fire Department hopes to purchase new equipment in the year 2016, with assistance from three competitive grants.
During Monday night’s meeting, Shelby City Council approved the mayor as director of public safety to apply for three grants on behalf of the Shelby Fire Department.
“For two of the grants there is no obligation to the city,” explained Chief Mike Thompson.
The first grant would reimburse the fire department for training a fire inspector, which Chief Thompson completed in the fall of 2015. The total cost of the training was $437.27.
A second grant application would be an individual equipment grant for new portable radios. The total cost for 10 portable radios is approximately $5,020.
“This is geared towards very small departments usually in the southern part of Ohio,” Thompson said. “We stand very little chance of getting it.”
Thompson noted the city would have an obligation with a third grant application that would pay for self-contained breathing apparatus bottles and automatic external defibulators (AEDs). The city would be responsible for five percent of the grant cost, roughly $4,334 out of the $91,030 grant total.
According to Thompson, without the grant the self-contained breathing apparatus bottles would cost around $15,000 and the AED units around $36,000 apiece.
“The bottles we have now had a 15-year lifespan, and they are going to be done at the end of the year,” Thompson said. “They’re something we’re going to have to buy period, and for quite a bit of money – that would take up about half of the Shelby Fire Department’s equipment budget for the year.”
In addition, one AED unit would cost more than the department’s entire equipment budget. Thompson stated in his grant application that the combined cost to replace both AED units for the department is $75,490.
“Our AED units are 10 and 15 years old,” Thompson said. “It’s truly something that’s going to be used to save a life.”
Thompson said the equipment grant is a competitive grant with the entire United States, but the Shelby Fire Department would be grouped against similar departments. He noted the department has had some success with this grant in the past.
According to the grant applications, the Shelby Fire Department currently employees 12 full-time paid firefighters. The department responded to nine structure fires, eight vehicle fires and seven wildlife fires in 2015.
“Hopefully these grants come through and we can get some new equipment in the city of Shelby,” Thompson said.
