SCIOTO TOWNSHIP FIRE DEPARTMENT IN JACKSON COUNTY PROVIDED USE OF FIRE PROTECTION EQUIPMENT THROUGH ODNR

COLUMBUS, OH – The Scioto Township Volunteer Fire Department of Jackson County will receive a complete self-contained breathing system for use in fighting fires through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Forestry.

The division will provide the equipment at no charge to the fire department through the Federal Excess Personal Property (FEPP) program. The breathing system consists of a trailer-mounted generator, compressor and filter, along with an air bottle fill station. This equipment, with an original value of $15,600, is used to fill air bottles used by firefighters.

“The FEPP program helps local fire officials obtain important fire-fighting equipment that their limited budgets might not otherwise permit,” said David Lytle, 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 $7 million in 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. 7 for information.

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For Further Information Contact:
Rick Maier, ODNR Division of Forestry
(740) 774-1596, ext. 7