Grant to help La. firefighters prepare for next Katrina

New gear, training on list of priorities
 
By Amy Althans
Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
Copyright 2007 The Times-Picayune Publishing Company

FOLSOM, La. — Although the small communities such as Folsom and Lee Road did not suffer the extensive devastation Hurricane Katrina brought to cities and towns farther south, the area was nevertheless cut off from resources, forcing residents to live for weeks without electricity and access to fresh food and water.

Fortunately in both communities, volunteer fire departments stepped in immediately along with local citizens. who used every piece of equipment they owned to clear highways, driveways and remove trees from damaged homes to help get the community back on its feet.

To be better equipped to handle such emergencies, the Lee Road Volunteer Fire Department received a federal grant in the amount of $119,031 to buy new equipment, upgrade existing equipment and provide training for personnel.

The all-volunteer department will use this grant plus an additional $6,265 from its budget to buy generators for the three stations that service District 6.

They will also buy woodlands firefighting gear to fight wildfires, which officials say have been on the rise since the storm.

The generators will be placed at the three stations that service the Lee Road area. The main station is at Barker's Corner, the second is to the west near Dawsey Road, and the third is to the east in the Union Grove area.

"The generators will give us the ability to provide electricity for the emergency needs of the community in case of another storm such as Katrina," said A.J. Bailey, volunteer firefighter and department spokeswoman. "We found that we need to be prepared to help those residents who depend upon respirators and other life-support equipment including insulin, which needs refrigeration."

Bailey added that the department would also like to buy an ice machine but has been unable to find funding or a grant for that purchase.

"We could run an ice machine with the generators and that would be especially beneficial for the elderly who can't take the heat as well as others," she said.

The grant money also will provide for the purchase of firefighting gear that is designed to withstand the heat and is lighter in weight than traditional gear.

Although the department does not currently have woodlands firefighting equipment, they saw the value of the equipment when contract firefighters from other communities were in the area last year helping to manage the overwhelming number of brush fires.

In its application for the grant, the department made the point that traditional firefighting gear is much heavier than the woodlands gear. The traditional gear increases fatigue, making it more difficult for the firefighters to combat the woodlands fires.

Also, because the traditional gear is heavier and hotter, the gear gets dirtier quicker and needs to be out of service while being cleaned. The woodlands gear would allow the department to have enough gear to cover both structure fires as well as the woodland fires.

"There are still so many trees down from the hurricane that we continue to have a greater threat of woodland fires now than we have had in the past," Bailey said.

Some of the grant money is earmarked to improve communication among the members with modern radios that meet new guidelines for bandwidth. The new devices will be interchangeable and battery-powered, upgrades that will benefit the department.

"We want to improve the department so we can better serve the community and protect the lives of our members who are all volunteers," Bailey said. "When Katrina hit, we found that without electricity we had no way to communicate except face-to-face, on CB radios or the old-fashioned air raid siren."

Another portion of the grant money will be used to provide training for new volunteers, additional training for existing members and to buy new gear or refurbish equipment at the three stations.

Bailey added that training is an important aspect of keeping a volunteer fire department functioning properly and all volunteers must be properly trained in order for the department to qualify for federal grants.

"We have to make sure our volunteers meet the guidelines of the National Incident Management System so we constantly provide training opportunities to make sure our new volunteers are well trained," she said.

Without grants and fundraisers, the department would not be able to operate on the money it receives from the parish.

One-third of the current budget pays a note on two new fire engines purchased in 2004, another third covers insurance while the balance barely meets the need for fuel, basic repairs and training.

Bailey said the department hopes to secure another grant to provide for at least one full-time paid position. Since the entire department is comprised of volunteers with full-time jobs, providing for a paid full-time position would improve the department's insurance rating.

"Plus, a full-time person could start the engines every day, which helps to keep the equipment in good working order plus that person could take care of the reports and other paperwork that is required to keep the department running smoothly," she said.