What They Bought With the AFG Grant:

• SCBAs with PASS devices
• Spare Cylinders
• Rapid Intervention Team Pack

Pictured: (kneeling) Assistant Chief Don Springhetti, Assistant Chief Stephen Keegan (standing left to right) Jerry Eaton, Captain Craig Fairley, Ross Palmer, Captain Bruce Jensen

The Whispering Pines VFD provides structural and wildland fire suppression and medical first response to a community of approximately 2500 residents in Pennington County, South Dakota. Prior to receiving the AFG grant funds, 75% of their volunteers did not have basic SCBAs and PASS devices that met minimum OSHA or NFPA Standards. None of them were protected with a RIT pack - should they become injured in an unsafe environment and need additional air to boost their supply until rescue can be completed. The majority of the SCBA and PASS devices they were using were obsolete, 15 to 20 years old and well worn. In addition, they had three different models of SCBA and PASS Devices, which meant that all volunteer firefighters had to be trained on all three systems. As mutual aid calls increased, this situation resulted in equipment incompatibility problems on mutual aid fire incidents. Their budget was limited and the county government could not support their needs with additional funding. Funding the project through local donations and the rental of the community room in the fire station was not an option, as those funds were obligated to supporting their apparatus expenditures.

They received a 2004 Assistance to Firefighters Grant for 18 sets of turnout gear. The purchase of the SCBAs, spare cylinders, RITs and associated equipment with the 2005 grant funds have allowed them to ensure that 100% of their volunteer firefighters that do interior fire attack are protected with safe, OSHA and NFPA compliant gear. The new equipment matches the equipment used by neighboring departments and cooperating agencies, for which they provide mutual aid.

How the Grant Has Helped:

On November 22, 2006, they responded to a request for mutual aid for one of two structure fires that had started simultaneously. With the simultaneous starts, they were one of only 3 engines companies available at this fire. They arrived to find 2 structures involved with fire threatening 2 other structures. After cooling the exposures, they made an initial attack with a ground-placed monitor on one structure that was fully involved, and quickly knocked down the main body of fire. The home department took care of the other structure. They quickly began following up with hand lines to knockdown the remaining hotspots. With partial collapse of the structure, overhaul was going to take a while to do it safely. Due to the cool air temperatures (approx. 35 degrees) and high winds (reported gusts to 30 mph) the smoke stayed near ground level throughout the incident – making it mandatory to wear SCBA. “With the lighter weight and longer operating time of our new SCBA, we were able to continue to fight the fire until additional mutual aid from the next county arrived approximately 60 minutes later. With the short duration of our old SCBAs (15-minute working time) and the limited number of spare bottles, we could not have maintained a constant firefighting presence until the additional mutual aid companies arrived - unless we placed the health of our firefighters at risk. Clearly this new equipment is making a difference in the safety and effectiveness of our firefighting operation.” (Stephen Keegan, Assistant Chief )