The East Oktibbeha Fire Department recently received a federal grant in the amount of $273,315. The grant provides enough funding for new equipment and a new vehicle.
Austin Check, junior real estate finance and marketing major, said he is the grant administrator for the EOFD. Check said applying for the grant was a very competitive process.
“The first round of the process involved filling out an assessment of our needs and an online form,” Check said. “After that, since we scored high enough on that portion, we had to write a narrative explaining our case. That went to a peer review. It was very competitive.”
Greg Ball, fire chief of the EOFD, said the department will greatly benefit from the purchase of a new fire truck.
“We have some older tankers running out there that have gone way past their life span,” he said. “So this new truck is going to be a great asset for the east side of the county.”
Check said the new truck will allow the department to expand its ability to help the county.
“As the territory we have to cover grows, we have to grow with the times,” Check said. “The next truck will have capabilities that the old ones don’t have.”
He said the new truck will have pumps that will be able to move 500 gallons of water per minute and will make a big difference in putting out a fire quickly.
“The old trucks have to be filled on the top and don’t have pumps, but the new trucks will allow us to suck water out of ponds and pump water up hill,” Check said. “The pumps on the new truck will be a big help in controlling fires.”
Check said part of the grant will be used to replace damaged gear and maintain gear that is still usable.
“We really need to replace some gear that has gotten bad,” Check said. “And then on top of that, we have to keep up with maintenance for the other gear, which gets expensive because it can’t go in normal washing machines.”
In addition to purchasing the new truck and replacing gear, Check said the grant will provide funding for new thermal imaging cameras, which allow fire fighters to search for people in fires.
“The camera makes it easy to see where people are located inside the fire because it picks up on their body temperature,” he said. “The cameras also help prevent unnecessary damage to buildings because it shows where the heat is coming from, so we can remove only the part of the wall where the heat is and cause less damage.”
Ehron Havens,  freshman aerospace engineering major, said the grant will benefit the entire community.
“The fire department does so much for our community,” Havens said. “This grant money will allow them to keep on doing a great service to the Starkville area.”