With the exception of a reserve truck bought in 1998, the Monmouth Fire Department has depended on grants to purchase its fleet, which includes the reserve engine truck, two other engines that are used regularly, a ladder truck, a tanker truck used for facing water, a brush truck used for extinguishing brush fires, and an ambulance. Their three most used trucks, two 14-year-old engine trucks and an 18-year-old ladder truck, cost more to maintain with each passing year and Fire Chief Casey Rexroat says there hasn’t been any luck recently getting the grant funding needed to purchase new vehicles.
“This biggest grant we apply for is the Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) federal grant through FEMA,” Rexroat said. “It’s a very competitive grant and there is usually over $300 million available in it for fire departments across the U.S. ... (But) there’s only so much money for apparatuses.”