COLUMBUS, OH - The Sardis Volunteer Fire Department of Monroe County is being provided a 1993 Jeep Cherokee and a Western Forester fire pump, with a total original value of $15,350, from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Forestry.
ODNR provides the equipment at no charge to the fire department through the Federal Excess Personal Property program.
“This program helps local fire officials obtain important fire-fighting equipment that their limited budgets might not otherwise permit,” said John Dorka, chief of the Division of Forestry. “The budget for a typical Ohio rural volunteer fire department is $35,000 per year, with some fire departments operating on $10,000 or less.”
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 Division of Forestry for disposal or reassignment.
Since July 1996, local fire departments in Ohio have acquired more than $7 million of equipment through the program, including fire engines, tanker trucks, pick-up trucks, vans, portable generators and pumps, compressors, hoses, nozzles, and protective clothing.
The Division of Forestry currently has cooperative wildfire suppression agreements with 325 fire departments located within the division’s fire protection area, including eastern and southeastern Ohio, and the Maumee State Forest area of northwestern Ohio. Fire departments interested in the program should contact Rick Maier at 740-773-1574.