EMA receives grant to buy generators

VW County EMA news

U.S. Homeland Security dollars were recently awarded locally for the purchase of 20 generators to be used in emergency situations.

According to Van Wert County Emergency Management Director Rick McCoy, Homeland Security grants were released this past year for competitive regional projects. McCoy contacted the neighboring Counties of Mercer, Darke and Auglaize and advised that he would prepare a grant request for the 4 counties with a proposal that 5 generators be purchased for each county for a total of 20 generators. McCoy’s grant proposal specified the need for back-up generators using examples of the Derecho Wind storm last year and recent tornadoes in the region.

The grant in the amount of $21,352 was submitted and approved, with Van Wert EMA being administrator of the grant. Van Wert Fire Equipment was awarded the project and the generators arrived last week for delivery to participating counties. Each county will receive a 17.5 kw, 7.5 kw,  5.5 kw, 3.25 kw, and a 1.8 kw generator.

McCoy said that, in his grant request, he specified the need for each county to have the generators to use in an emergency that affects the region, but also stated that, in the event only one county was affected, the other three counties could deliver an additional 15 generators for a single county’s use.