SIRN in Raleigh County
Federal grant paves way for countywide fire radio systemBy Wendy Holdren 03/09/2012 12:00 AM
Federal funding has been awarded to 13 fire departments in Raleigh County to upgrade communications equipment, according to an announcement Wednesday from Sen. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va.
The Rhodell Volunteer Fire Department will receive the $772,000 Assistance to Firefighter Grant as a regional appropriation to outfit each county fire truck with interoperable-capable communications equipment. This equipment will enable compatibility with the West Virginia Interoperable Radio Project (IRP), which is a collaborative effort by state, county and municipal public safety entities to establish and maintain a statewide radio network.
The 13 departments are Rhodell, Coal City, Sophia City, Sophia Area, Ghent, Trap Hill, Coal River, Mabscott, Clear Creek, Whitesville, Lester, Bradley-Prosperity and Beaver.
The grant will cover the cost of 100 mobile radios, 91 portable units and a master unit for the Emergency Operations Center office, according to Michael Holshouser, captain of the Rhodell VFD. These radios will strengthen Raleigh County’s operations and ability to service the region with improved firefighter safety and better coordinated response capabilities on scene.
“We’ll be able to talk to other counties through these radios. If we get a mass casualty event, say in Charleston, and they need to pull some of the departments from Raleigh County there, they would be able to contact us through these radios.”
Other channels will also be on these radios, including the Division of Highways.
Although the fire departments will be getting “a jump ahead” with the IRP system, they still have some work to do.
“The way this grant works, the federal government pays 80 percent of the equipment cost and then the 20 percent leftover will be divided by the amount of radios each department requests,” Holshouser explained. “So each department is responsible for their 20 percent of their cost of the radios.”
The total for the 20 percent match will be $195,000.
“We’ve got to find a way to fund that to be able to match the federal part to make the purchase.”
Holshouser says he plans on fundraising and speaking to the county commission to ask for assistance.
“Firefighters perform heroic acts every day, but there are those, in our nation’s Capitol, who are too shortsighted to understand the long-term importance of these essential federal investments and threaten the security and livelihoods of our communities,” Rahall said in the release. “I have long been a fierce advocate for federal funding to support public safety on the local level. While tightening our budgetary belt, we must stand united in support of national priorities like our first responders.”
The grant is included in Round 13 of the competitive FY 2011 Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program awarded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in cooperation with the U.S. Fire Administration. The funding can be used to obtain much-needed emergency response equipment, personal protective equipment, firefighting and emergency vehicles, and training.
The AFG program awards grants directly to local fire departments and Emergency Medical Service organizations to enhance their ability to protect the health and safety of the public, as well as that of first-responder personnel. Since 2002, southern West Virginia has received nearly $22 million through the FEMA FIRE grants programs.
— E-mail:
wholdren@register-herald.com