Chillicothe, OH - Olive Township Volunteer Fire Department in Meigs County has received a 1990 Ford / Pierce fire engine with a five-man cab equipped with a generator and a complement of fire hose and nozzles, an original value of $165,600, through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR).
The fire equipment is made available by the U.S. Forest Service’s Federal Excess Personal Property (FEPP) program, which provides vehicles and other fire-fighting equipment to rural fire departments in eastern and southeastern Ohio at no charge. The ODNR Division of Forestry administers the program in Ohio.
“This program helps local fire officials obtain important fire-fighting equipment they might not otherwise be able to purchase,” said John Dorka, chief of the Division of Forestry. “The budget for a typical southeastern Ohio rural volunteer fire department is $35,000 per year, with some fire departments operating on $10,000 or less annually.”
Of the nearly 1,300 fire departments within Ohio, some 900 are classified as rural and are primarily staffed by volunteers.
The Division of Forestry currently has cooperative wildfire suppression agreements with 325 fire departments located within the division’s fire protection area (eastern and southeastern Ohio). At this time, the FEPP program is available to fire departments located within this fire protection area.
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 ODNR Division of Forestry for disposal or reassignment. Since July 1996, local fire departments in Ohio have acquired more than $7,000,000 worth of equipment through the program, including fire engines, tanker trucks, pick-up trucks, vans, portable generators and pumps, compressors, hoses, nozzles, protective clothing and safety equipment.
Fire departments interested in additional information or in participating in the program should complete a FEPP request form available at their local state forest office. They may also contact Rick Maier, FEPP Program Coordinator, ODNR Division of Forestry, 345 Allen Ave., Chillicothe, Ohio, 45601. Phone: 740-773-1574.