Fire department adds spark to economic development
When you think of fire service, economic development does not immediately come to mind.
However, within the past year, the El Dorado Fire Department has implemented new programs, purchased new equipment and launched a major project, all of which are making and will make an economic impact on the community.
The projects also allow the fire department to better serve the city of El Dorado, said EFD Chief Chad Mosby.
“We’ve really been blessed,” Mosby said.
“I’ve been with the El Dorado Fire Department for 25 years and has been very, very gracious in making sure the fire department is wellequipped,” he continued. “Good reliable equipment, when it comes to emergency service, is essential.”
Grants also help to keep the EFD well-equipped.
Recent grants from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have allowed the department to purchase new HAZMAT suits, air monitoring equipment and a pickup truck, all of which assist the EFD’s HAZMAT/ Weapons of Mass Destruction response team in reacting quickly to calls with specialized gear.
Mosby said the team put the apparatuses to good use last month when team members suited up to assist the Warren Fire Department with an emergency call about potentially hazardous chemicals.
“Someone bought an antique safe at an estate sale and in the process of trying to figure out the combination, they found that chemical vials had been installed in the safe as a theft deterrent,” Mosby explained.
He further explained that it was a common practice in the 1920s and 30s to outfit safes with chloropicrin, which was used as a chemical weapon during World Ward I, to keep thieves away.
Chloropicrin is also used in herbicides and pesticides.
“Basically, it’s a tear gas,” Mosby said.
The safe had been stored in an old commercial building and Mosby said the safe was empty when the EFD crew arrived.
“The vials were still intact. We were able to retrieve those vials and dispose of them,” he said.
“What a lot of people don’t realize is that within the the Weapons of Mass Destruction program, the fire department has the HAZMAT team and the (El Dorado Police Department) has the (certified) Bomb Squad,” the fire chief noted.
The two groups make up a regional response team that covers the entire southern end of Arkansas, he said.
Pumper truck
A capital expenditure that the El Dorado City Council approved in late 2018 was delivered to Central Fire Station in early December.
The council approved $725,000 for a new pumper truck, which replaced a 27-year-old fire engine.
Mosby said the cost of the truck came in at roughly $687,000 and grant money was used to purchase rescue equipment for the truck.
The new pumper, known as Rescue 1, was put into service at 5:25 p.m. Dec. 9 after it was blessed by EFD Chaplain Sterling Claypoole and pushed into a bay Central Fire Station during a “push-in” ceremony.
The ceremony dates back to the 1800s when firefighters used handdrawn pumpers and horse-drawn vehicles to respond to emergencies.
Once the team of horses were disconnected from the vehicles, firefighters would push the equipment into the bays themselves.
“That truck will probably be in service for at least 20 to 25 years,” he said.
“We do as much preventative maintenance on these vehicles as we can in-house. That’s the only way a vehicle can last 20, 25 years. You have to take care of it,” Mosby said. “The men and women at the fire department do a good job in taking care of the resources the city has entrusted with them.”
And in case you were wondering, the new pumper was dispatched on its first call 13 minutes after it was put into service.
Healthy workforce
To help keep its workforce healthy in order to better serve the public, city officials approved a request in June of 2019 to implement a wellness program for municipal employees.
The EFD is the first department to participate in the pilot project, for which council members pulled $5,000 from the city reserve coffers.
Mosby had presented a funding request to the city’s Finance Committee and later, the full city council, saying that the fire department had reached out to the Arkansas Heart Hospital to learn about its wellness program and costs for such services as heart screenings and other non-invasive tests to provide medical assessments and determine risk factors concerning heart health.