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Amistad National Recreation Area
helped the Val Verde County Rural Volunteer Fire Department
acquire 20 new pagers for department staff. The $8000
National Park Service grant was through the Rural Fire
Assistance Program, a part of the National Fire Plan.
The program provides equipment and training to rural
and volunteer fire departments near national parks to
assist them with wildland fires. It increases firefighter
safety, enhances rural fire protection capabilities,
and minimizes dangerous situations in the wildland-urban
interface.
According to Alan Cox, Park Superintendent,
"We're happy to help our neighbors, especially
organizations as important as the county fire department.
These pagers are a vast improvement over the system
the department was using before." Jerry Rust, County
Fire Department Chief, said, "The new pagers should
speed our response time. Our matching funds were $889
— a real bargain! The Val Verde County Rural Volunteer
Fire Department has always worked closely with the National
Park Service. In fact, some of our firefighters have
been park employees. It's always nice when different
agencies can partner together and help each other out."
Amistad National Recreation Area headquarters is located on US Highway 90W, Del Rio TX, and is open Monday through Friday 8am–5pm, except holidays. For more information, visitors may call 830.775.7491, tune in to AM 1540 near the lake, or visit the park's web site. |
