MP Fire & EMS to buy new equipment

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

MIDDLE POINT — It’s a much needed financial boost for Middle Point Fire & EMS, and it will be put to good use.

The department was recently awarded an AFG (Assistance to Firefighters Grant) FEMA grant in the amount of $153,523.80. It requires a five percent local match, taking the total amount to $161,200.

Middle Point Fire Chief Brock Profit said the department will be purchasing all new SCBA (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus) air packs, spare bottles and face pieces for each member.

“This is a huge deal for us,” Profit explained. “The air packs themselves don’t actually expire but the bottles themselves do – there’s a 15-year lifespan. Our current bottles actually expire at the end of this year so this is a ‘just in time grant’ for us.”

“The replacement cost for bottles alone was going to be $32,400,” he added. “The new packs also offer some new technology that we are excited to have as well as bluetooth capabilities, meaning they will bluetooth to our our radios so when guys are working in a fire talk we can understand them much more clearly vs. talking through a voice amplifier and radio mic.”

Middle Point Fire & EMS currenty has 32 members.

According to FEMA’s website, the primary goal of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) is to meet the firefighting and emergency response needs of fire departments and non-affiliated emergency medical service organizations.

Since 2001, AFG has helped firefighters and other first responders obtain critically needed equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training and other resources necessary for protecting the public and emergency personnel from fire and related hazards.