Ill. village to match grant for fire truck

By C.L. Waller
The Chicago Daily Herald

ANTIOCH, Ill. — Antioch is hoping to cash in on an opportunity to purchase a new fire engine through a federal matching grant program.

Village trustees on Monday committed to purchasing a new fire engine contingent on receiving a $285,000 Federal Emergency Management Agency Assistance to Firefighters Grant.

The new fire engine would replace the department's 1973 Pirsch pumper.

The grant, if approved, would require a local match of $115,000 split evenly between the village of Antioch and the First Fire Protection District of Antioch Township. The fire district board is expected to vote on its commitment Jan. 13.

"It's a very good probability we will be awarded the grant," said John Nixon, chief of the Antioch Fire Department and the fire protection district.The agencies have a shared agreement to provide fire services to the village and the surrounding fire protection district.

The grant application was submitted in May 2010, and Nixon anticipates hearing whether the grant is approved in three to four weeks.

"We could not afford it without the grant," he said.

The typical service life of a fire pumper is 20 years. The 1973 pumper would be declared as surplus and sold, he said.

The new engine, with a 750-gallon water storage tank and the ability to pump 1,500 gallons of water a minute, will take a year to build, and it would be received in May 2012, Nixon said.

The fire department and fire protection district have a cost-share agreement providing service to 34 square miles with three stations and four pumpers. Essentially a volunteer department, the 80 firefighters are paid $12 a call and there are about 950 calls a year.

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