As we approach National First Responders Day on Friday, Tennessee American Water has awarded, through its Firefighting Support Grant program, over $15,000 to 16 fire departments in Hamilton, Marion, and Sequatchie Counties in Tennessee, and Catoosa, Dade, and Walker Counties in Georgia. The grants provide supplemental funding to fire and emergency organizations supporting Tennessee American Water’s service areas.
Tennessee American Water’s Firefighting Support Grant Program covers a variety of fire department expenses associated with personal protective gear, communications equipment, firefighting tools, training, and fire prevention education.
“We know how important water is in protecting homes and businesses. We also understand resources for our local first responders can run short. We offer the firefighter grant program as a way to support first responders in a meaningful way.” said Grant Evitts, Tennessee American Water president. “The departments will utilize these funds to help keep our customers and communities safe in emergency situations.”
Departments receiving funding in 2022 are:
Hamilton County
Chattanooga Fire Department –portable flow meter for training of adequate pressure for firefighting
City of East Ridge Fire Department – personal protective gear, communications equipment, and firefighting tools
City of Red Bank Fire Department – 4-way hydrant assist valve to efficiently deliver water to on the fire ground in the least amount of time
Elder Mountain Volunteer Fire & Rescue – replace firefighting hose
Lookout Mountain TN Police & Fire Department – supply hoses for adequate to deliver water from engine to a structure or wildland fire
Marion County
Crossroads Volunteer Fire Department – handheld thermal imaging cameras to identify hazards that in most cases cannot been identified by the normal scope of vision
Jasper Highlands Volunteer Fire Department –nozzles to replace old, worn equipment with new, modern equipment
Sequatchie Volunteer Fire Department – new hose connections and grip kits for tools
Whitwell Volunteer Fire Department –external microphones for better communication while operating on an emergency scene as well as gated eye to help distribute water more efficiently while on a fire scene
Mullins Cove Volunteer Fire Department – new radios and repeater to enhance communication between the firefighters, other departments and Marion County Dispatch due to the remote location served by the department
Sequatchie County
Southend Volunteer Fire Department – radios for all volunteer firefighters and CO2 detector to identify source of when responding to home CO2 detector alarm calls.
Lone Oak Volunteer Fire Department – 3” hose lines to deliver water from engine to a structure or wildland fire.
Catoosa County
Catoosa County Fire Department – smoke alarms for county citizens
Dade County
North Dade Volunteer Fire & Rescue – personal protective equipment (P.P.E.) or multi-gas detectors
Walker County
Rossville Fire Department –Pagers to alert firefighters of calls
Walker County Fire Rescue – equipment to allow for quick deployment in areas where access and terrain may cause issues for apparatus access