COLUMBUS, OH – The Loudon Township Volunteer Fire Department of Carroll County will receive a 5,000-watt trailer-mounted generator and an emergency-scene lighting system, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Division of Forestry.

 

The equipment has an original acquisition value of $8,300. The Division of Forestry will provide the equipment at no charge to the township through the Federal Excess Personal Property program.

 

“This program helps local fire officials obtain important fire-fighting equipment that their limited budgets might not otherwise permit,” said Robert Boyles, acting chief of the ODNR Division of Forestry. “The budget for a typical Ohio rural volunteer fire department is $35,000 per year, with some fire departments operating on $10,000 or less.”

 

Items obtained through the federal program are provided to local fire departments under a loan agreement. When the equipment is no longer useable or desired, the fire department must return it to the Division of Forestry for disposal or reassignment.

 

Since July 1996, local fire departments in Ohio have acquired more than $10 million of equipment through the program including fire engines, tanker trucks, pick-up trucks, vans, portable generators and pumps, compressors, hoses, nozzles, protective clothing and other safety equipment.

 

The Division of Forestry currently has cooperative wildfire suppression agreements with 325 fire departments located within the division’s fire protection area, which includes eastern and southeastern Ohio, and the Maumee State Forest area of northwestern Ohio. Fire departments interested in the program should contact Rick Maier at (740) 774-1596, ext. 110 for information.

 

Ohio grows more acres of trees than corn and soybeans combined. The ODNR Division of Forestry works to promote the wise use and sustainable management of Ohio’s public and private woodlands. To learn more about Ohio’s woodlands, visit the Division of Forestry’s Web site at www.ohiodnr.com/forestry.

 

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources ensures a balance between wise use and protection of our natural resources for the benefit of all. Visit the ODNR Web site at ohiodnr.com. 

 

 

Rick Maier, ODNR Division of Forestry

740. 774. 1596, Ext. 110

Heidi Hetzel-Evans, ODNR Media Relations

614. 265. 6860