Grant County Fire District 5 has received a more than $800,000 grant to replace its air packs.
Fire District 5 Capt. Travis Svilar says the grant allows the district to purchase 125 air packs, 125 masks and 250 bottles. The about $840,000 grant is the largest grant awarded to a fire department in the state this year through FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighters Grants Program. The fire district is required to provide a five percent match — about $42,000 — as part of the grant.
The district’s current bottles for their self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) are set to expire next spring. Svilar said the district had money set aside to purchase new SCBA’s but with an annual budget of about $2.2 million, the nearly $900,000 purchase would have made a major dent in the department’s budget and had an impact to taxpayers. Svilar said the grant is a win-win for the department and taxpayers.