The Valentine Volunteer Fire Department received a $7,500 grant for rural and urban interface. The grant is provided through Farm Credit Service of America’s Working Here Fund. The fund will be used to purchase a MSA G-1 SCBA (self contained breathing apparatus) for fire calls. The SCBA will allow a quicker response to interior fires. The SCBAS are thermal imaging and allow fire fires to enter a fire in extremely dark conditions to find people in the fire.
The goal of the new equipment is “to have the best response of the fire department to quickly read the situation, and respond to fire in a structure where you can’t see, and getting people out and accessing the fire to minimize property damage, as it will take a little longer to get to these areas,” said Terry Engles, chief.
Plans are in place to order the new SCBA in July 2020.