Budget meeting shows need for fire equipment

A week after the Saratoga Forest Management fire forced the Town of Saratoga to reschedule their budget meeting, department heads and town council members sat down at 5:30 p.m. on April 23 to finally discuss the budget for fiscal year 2019-2020.

During the budget meeting, those in attendance were informed by town council member Jennie Lou Garland and members of the Saratoga Volunteer Fire Department (SVFD) that the department was lacking vital supplies and equipment.

“There is nothing in compliance over there as far as equipment,” said Garland. “For 32 sets of bunker (gear) it is $92,000”

Garland, who is the town council’s representative to the SVFD, had a chance to sit down with members of the fire department last Wednesday and discuss the budget. She explained to Mayor Ed Glode, fellow council member Richard Raymer and the gathered department heads that the SVFD had opted to ask for the purchase of new boots for the next fiscal year. At $344 for a pair of boots, 32 pairs would come in around $11,000.

Pat Vining, a member of the SVFD, explained to Glode that the reason they were asking for the purchase of boots in the next fiscal year was due to the low cost compared to that of coat and pants. The cost of coat and pants was estimated to be $2,100 for one set, which would come in at a cost of $67,200 for 32 volunteer firefighters.

Vining did express, however, the importance of acquiring updated gear in the future.

“I have the newest set of bunker gear and it’s two years out of compliance and our airpacks are three years out of compliance out of their 15 year cycle,” said Vining.

Garland and Vining also informed those at the budget meeting that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant that the Carbon County Volunteer Fire Department (CCVFD) had applied for, and had included, SVFD and had been denied.

“What else is available? Is FEMA the only option we have?” asked Glode.

“I’ve never applied for anything else but the FEMA grants for PPE (personal protective equipment),” replied Vining.

Brad Cary, a member of the SVFD, added that FEMA grants are what had purchased the bunker gear more than 10 years before and the airpacks more than 15 years before. Garland also informed Glode and Raymer that all the five-inch hose that the SVFD had used to fight the Saratoga Forest Management fire had been burned or otherwise compromised and new hose was desperately needed.

In addition to the needed hose, the SVFD had been offered extrication equipment at a reduced cost. Vining and Cary expressed the need to jump on the offer to Glode, who agreed that it was needed. Garland informed Glode that she had spoke with Suzie Cox earlier in the day and they had both felt they could put half the cost of the equipment on the remainder of the current fiscal year budget and the other half on the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

While there was some uncertainty due to the fire department’s status as a 501(c)3 if the town would have to outright purchase the equipment or if a check could be given to the fire department to purchase the equipment, Glode added that the town would figure out the logistics.

Glode told the gathered members of the SVFD that an order would be placed for new five-inch fire hose at a total cost of approximately $4,000 along with working on the process of purchasing the extrication equipment. He also told them the new boots would be placed on the budget for fiscal year 2019-2020.