5 May 2023
BURDEN, Kan. (KSNW) — Many volunteer departments across the state are pinching pennies, forcing them to prioritize critical equipment over health and safety.
“With a limited budget, you kind of have to make a judgment call of, some of the gear is good enough,” Fire chief for Cowley County Fire District 3 in Burden, Chris Cannon, said. “It’s not within the recommended guidelines, but it looks OK. So it was a huge challenge. We really couldn’t do it with a budget of dollars that we had.”
Cannon says grant funding is essential to being able to operate effectively and safely.
“It’s just very challenging because there’s so many needs and such few resources to meet that,” Cannon said. “The fire marshal grant is great for stretching our dollars and getting those things done.”
A grant from the Kansas State Fire Marshal granted the department 12 total sets of bunker gear over the last five years and a gear extractor.
The extractor is the washing machine used to clean the bunker gear. Clean bunker gear is crucial to the health of firefighters.
“Getting that gear taken off, taken apart and ran through a good quality gear extractor, washing machine, that’s the purpose. Built for that, that process of getting all those contaminants out of there is highly important,” President of the Kansas State Fire Association Shane Pearson said.
The National Fire Protection Association recommends bunker gear be updated every 10 years, but it cost $3,000-4,000 per set.
The Cowley County Fire District 3 also received a grant for new radios, which are decades old. The new ones will allow them to communicate on frequencies outside of Cowley County.
Pearson says volunteer departments across the state are struggling.
“In areas in the state that they’ve got a very small limited budget, that volunteer fire department may only have five or $10,000 to operate on for the entire year,” Pearson said. “And that has to cover the cost of fuel, vehicle repairs, things of that nature.”
Pearson says funding for the volunteer departments varies by location and tax base.
And, he says there is a lack of firefighters – both volunteer and paid – across the state.
Cannon says grant money and funding is everything.
“Every budget is tight, but these are extraordinarily important dollars and truly make the difference between us being able to do our mission of protecting life and property and not being able to do it,” Cannon said. “So if there’s any elected officials, we appreciate your support. Please vote for continuing the Kansas State Marshal grant. It’s a game changer for us out here in rural Kansas.”