News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Cumberland County firemen will soon have extended protection from new air packs.
County Mayor Allen Foster said the county received a $571,600 Assistance to Firefighters Grant to purchase the equipment.
“Their air packs are expiring and there’s a lifespan to those. We’ve done the upgrades and the maintenance to keep them as long as we can, but they’re actually expiring,” Foster said. “We’re replacing a little less than 100 of them and this grant came through to help us with that. It’s a 10-percent match, so that’s really going to help Cumberland County out and our volunteer fire department.”
The county budgeted for the full grant amount in the case that it didn’t come through. Foster said some of that funding can now be used to provide firemen with additional resources.
“There’s a couple other things that the fire department would love to see,” Foster said. “We have a truck that’s wore out and a couple of other things that can now be considered because that money was set aside. Hopefully we can do some other improvements with it.”
The county applied for the same grant a few years ago, but failed receive any funding.
