Grants help 18 southwest Illinois fire departments upgrade gear despite tight budgets
The Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshall awarded three metro-east fire departments funding through its Small Equipment Grant Program.
Among the recipients were the Edwardsville, East St. Louis, and Collinsville Fire Department.
Metro-east fire chiefs say the grants are especially welcome as they work to overcome budget shortfalls due to COVID-19 pandemic and to replace out-of-date equipment.
“The operational struggle was that we had a lot of staff members who became infected at different times so that caused a short staffing,” said Edwardsville Fire Department Fire Chief James Whiteford. “It was difficult to maintain a number of people on duty that we needed to operate. Our overtime budget was really high in 2020 due to COVID.”
The fire department will purchase thermal imaging cameras with the $9,554 it received. The new-and-improved cameras will allow the firefighters to perform operations more efficiently, quickly identify the location of a fire, assist with rescue and extinguishment of fires, Whiteford said.
Thermal imaging cameras are handheld devices that allows firefighters to see through smoke inside of a fire and detect temperature.
The East St. Louis Fire Department is thankful for its $26,000 award, Assistant Chief George McClellan said.
“Receiving the grant means a lot (because) we are now able to get new front-line equipment. We have equipment that is currently 20 years old,” he said. “The fact the we respond to more highway systems than any other department around here, we respond to a lot of accidents that involve injuries and fatalities.
“The new equipment allows us to quickly and efficiently rescue people from dangerous situations. As you know the quicker that you can get a person to a medical facility the better.”
The Collinsville Fire Department plans to purchase structural firefighting gear with the $20,000 it received through the program, said Chief John Bailot.
“We call it personal protective equipment for the firefighters,” said Bailot. “We will ultimately buy a total of nine sets of structural turncoats, pants, helmets, and boots with the grant and additional funding from the city budget.
“It is extremely important for us to provide the proper protective equipment for our firefighters and it starts with their structural turnout gear. Everything in our society has an expiration date and the same goes our firefighting structural gear. The new gear will provide firefighters the protection and safety they need so they can then do their job effectively and help our residents.”
The Small Equipment Grant Program is a program that provides financial assistance to Illinois fire departments. Each fire department was eligible to receive up to $26,000 for the purchase of small firefighting equipment. A total of $3.3 million was awarded to 149 fire departments throughout the state.
“New equipment and gear can get expensive and place a strain on smaller fire departments’ resources,” said state Rep. Kate Stuart. “The Small Equipment Grant Program helps departments replace outdated equipment so they’re able to do their job safely and more efficiently.”
Most of the Illinois fire departments and fire protection districts were qualified to apply for the grant. The applications were evaluated by a committee to determine the awards. The committee established Tier I and Tier II priorities based on specific equipment a fire department requested, according to a release from the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshall.
The committee also evaluated equipment need, financial need, and if applicants previously received grants under the program.
Applicants that were denied a grant are able to request that their application be reconsidered.
Metro-east grant recipients and awards are listed as follows:
- Shoal Creek Fire Protection District- $25,909
- Alhambra Community Fire Protection District- $25,103
- Cottage Hills Fire Protection District- $26,000
- Olive Fire Protection District- $11,836
- Saint Jacob Fire Department- $22,600
- South Roxana Fire Protection District- $26,00
- Village of East Alton Fire Department- $25,367.25
- Worden Fire Protection District- $26,000
- Hecker Fire Protection District- $21,178.80
- Valmeyer Fire Protection District- $21,770
- Sparta Fire Department- $26,000
- Steeleville Fire Department- $21,000.88
- Cahokia Volunteer Fire Department- $19,095
- French Village Fire Department- $20,282.28
- Addieville Community Fire Protection District- $25,723.92
This story was originally published July 7, 2021 at 7:00 AM.