Fire units to receive $221,000 in grants

Money to go for trucks, stations

Four volunteer fire departments in Northwest Arkansas will receive grants to help pay for vehicles and substations from the state’s Rural Services Block Grant Program at the end of this month.

The Jasper Volunteer Fire Department will receive $61,000 to purchase a used 1992 Ford F800 truck with a 1,500-gallon tank that can pump 300 gallons of water per minute, Chief David Breedlove said.

“It’ll just help us do our job a little more efficiently,” he said.

Money for the Rural Services Block Grant Program comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, said Alex Hale, grants analyst for the Arkansas Department of Rural Services. The Rural Services department oversees the grant application process and recommends projects.

This year, the block grant program provided $711,500 for 12 projects across the state, she said. Grants of up to $75,000 are awarded annually, and recipients must contribute an additional 10 percent to the project.

In Northwest Arkansas, the program also will provide $73,000 each to two fire departments, Lincoln in Washington County and Altus in Franklin County, Hale said. The grants will go toward the construction of fire stations.

Lincoln Fire Department has a main station in the city and a substation in Cincinnati, volunteer Chief Willie Leming said. Adding a substation in the unincorporated community of Summers will put equipment in the middle of the department’s two existing stations.

The project is expected to cost about $150,000, Leming said. The rest of the money will come from membership fees paid to the Lincoln Rural Fire Association, which is part of the Lincoln Fire Department.

The 3-year-old Black Fork Volunteer Fire Department in Scott County will receive a $14,000 grant for a new 2,000-gallon pumper truck. The Black Fork Volunteer Fire Department serves a community of 45 residences in Scott County, between Waldron and Mena, Fire Chief Ron Flank said.

Jasper, with a population of roughly 470 residents, has two stations, a main station in the city and a second station on the top of a mountain at Mockingbird Hill, Breedlove said.

Mayor Shane Kilgore said its department is equipped with three engines, a brush truck, rescue equipment and one 1980s model tanker truck. The purchase of a second tanker truck will allow the department to house one tanker truck at each station, he said.

Within the city, the fire department is able to attach a hose to a fire hydrant to pump water, he said. The department responds to calls in places that lack access to a fire hydrant.

When multiple fire departments in Newton County respond to structure fires, they can string together several tankers and amass 8,000 to 9,000 gallons of water combined, he said.

The tanker trucks allow firefighters to haul water to the scene of the fire, empty, refill at the nearest fire hydrant and return.