|
The National Park Service (NPS), in conjunction with Golden
Spike National Historic Site, recently provided $18,500 in rural fire assistance
funding to fire departments in Box Elder County. Box Elder County Fire Department
received $5,000. Thatcher/Penrose - $9,000. Corinne - $2,500, and Garland -
$2,000. The funding will increase firefighter safety and enhance their fire
protection capability when responding to wildland fires.
This is the third consecutive year that companies in Box Elder
County have received rural fire assistance through the NPS. To qualify for assistance,
a Rural Fire Department (RFD) must meet certain requirements. The RFD’s
must have a cooperative agreement with the NPS and they must service a community
with a population of less than 10,000. The RFD must share a minimum of 10% of
the cost (which may include in-kind services) and must serve a community in
the wildland/urban interface. Funding can only be used for training, equipment,
and prevention activities.
Box Elder County Fire Marshall Greg Martz worked closely with
Mary Risser and Melissa Cobern of Golden Spike National Historic Site to develop
grant requests. 2004 Rural fire assistance grant funding will be used toward
the purchase of pumps, 250 gallon tanks, hose reels, 5000-gallon portable tanks,
personal protection equipment, and other miscellaneous equipment for four RFD’s
in Box Elder County.
The $10 million rural fire assistance appropriation is a key
component of the National Fire Plan’s Community Assistance Program, which
was introduced after the devastating fire season of 2000. The program helps
rural fire departments (RFD’s) meet or exceed accepted standards of wildland
fire qualifications, training, and performance. It targets those departments
that help fight fire on or near Department of the Interior lands. Before this program,
the NPS had no capability to help fund these small rural fire departments.
Golden Spike Superintendent Mary Risser emphasized the
importance of the Rural Fire Assistance Program to the park and the surrounding
communities. "This program offers Golden Spike National Historic Site a wonderful
opportunity to continue our cooperative working relationship with the rural
fire departments in Box Elder County by providing them with much needed equipment
and training. It is a good example of how the NPS recognizes the important role
that these rural fire districts play in the protection of our public lands." |
