New equipment for Floyd Fire Department
Floyd and Colwell Firefighters try on new breathing equipment in the Floyd Fire Station Monday night.
Floyd Fire Chief Ben Chatfield takes off the new breathing equipment.
One of the new breathing bottles and holders that Floyd Fire Department received Monday, Oct. 16.
Floyd firefighters Montana Knutson and Dallas Bast try on the new breathing equipment and crawl under a tanker.
Floyd Firefighters Montana Knutson takes off his breathing equipment after trying it out.
Floyd and Colwell firefighters try out the new breathing equipment in a series of obstacles in the Floyd Fire Station.
Floyd and Colwell firefighters try on new breathing equipment at the Floyd Fire Station Monday night. Press photos by Thomas Nelson.
By Thomas Nelson, tnelson@charlescitypress.com
The Floyd Fire Department received 16 new air tanks and breathing apparatus from a FEMA grant Monday. The new tanks will replace ones they’ve had for over a decade and that will be going to a Texas town.
The grant was through the FEMA Assistance to Firefighters fund, said Floyd Fire Chief Ben Chatfield.
There was a 5 percent co-pay on the grant, Chatfield said.
“The total cost was $100,000, of which we have to pay $5,000,” Chatfield said. “They basically replaced everything for breathing equipment in our whole fire station.”
Some of the Floyd Fire Department’s breathing equipment is 20 years old.
Last year the Floyd Fire Department got new black uniforms as well.
The Floyd Fire Department works and trains with the Colwell Fire Department, so when Floyd got the new breathing equipment, Colwell came to train with it as well.
“That way they’re familiar with how they operate,” Chatfield said, “so if we’re at a scene and they need to use one of our air packs they are trained on them.”
The new equipment has a heads-up display that shows the firefighters how much air they have, and if the firefighter stops moving an alarm goes off so he can be found.
The $5,000 that the Floyd Fire Department spent was unexpected.
“We budgeted to start replacing air packs, because of the age,” Chatfield said. “They’re only good for 15 years and some of them were at 20, so we were due to replace some.”
They also received 16 spare air bottles.
“We have 16 guys, so we have enough for everybody to get one,” Chatfield said.
Floyd Firefighters Montana Knutson and Dallas Bast tried out the new equipment and crawled under wooden planks and a firetruck.
“They work pretty slick I guess,” said Montana Knutson. “The heads-up display is nice.”
Grants and federal help have assisted the Floyd Fire Department quite a bit.
“The trucks that we use out here are mostly military surplus that we’ve been repurposing,” said Floyd firefighter Jerry Chatfield.
One of their tank trucks was previously used by the Air Force.
“(It) was rolled over and crushed,” Jerry said. “The cab’s been completely replaced, a new paint job. … the water pump assembly wasn’t hurt, but we had to rebuild the water tank.”
That was the Floyd Fire Department’s first rebuild. The truck was originally built in 2007.
“We rebuilt it in 2010, I think,” Jerry said. “It looked pretty bad when we got it in.”
It took the fire department a year and $45,000 to rebuild, and most of the work was done right at the fire station, Jerry said.
At least six of the vehicles that the Floyd Fire Department uses were repurposed from the United States military.
The engine, rescue truck and ladder truck all still technically belong to the United States government, Jerry said.
“You get to keep them as long as you need them,” he said.
Once the fire department is finished with them, they have to be returned.
There’s a lot of mechanical talent in the Fire Department, Jerry said. “They’re not scared to tear down a unit and put it back together.”
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