Plains-Paradise Rural District earns grant
The Plains-Pradise Rural Fire District recieving their cheque for $10,000 from Phillips 66 grant (Erin Jussesaume/ Clark Fork Valley Press)
Chief Russell explains the mechanics of the heat seeker and what will be available for them to use once they purchase a more updated version (Erin Jusseaume/ Clark Fork Valley Press)
Chief James Russell showing Phillips 66 Philip Williamson showing how their current heat seeker works (Erin Jusseaume/ Clark Fork Valley Press)
Just like the Sanders County Sheriff’s Office, the Plains-Paradise Rural Fire District has been awarded a $10,000 grant from Phillips 66.
“We are really excited to have received this grant,” said Fire Chief James Russell.
The local fire department is struggling with budget cuts that hinder them to get new or updated equipment.
When word got to Chief Russell of the district fire house being awarded the grant money, he immediately knew where a bulk portion of the money would be used.
“We will be investing in another piece of equipment that helps register hot spots,” he said.
He further explained that the heat seeker is a really good purchase for the department as it helps gives eyes to firefighters of where any hot spots are when they are fighting fires.
“If we go to a house fire, and there is a lot of smoke, this advanced piece will give us a better location of where the source of the fire is. It has the ability to look through the structure similar to how an X-ray machine works to look through different things,” he said.
“This is also great because if we get called out to a vehicle accident and can’t find a driver or don’t know how many people are in the car, we can use the heat seeker machine to see if there is a heat signature left. It will also indicate to us approximately how long a person may have left that spot. So if someone got disorientated it allows first responders to search and hopefully find the person quickly,” he further explained.
Chief Russell as well as a few crew members were delighted to show their low level pieces to the Phillips 66 representatives to have them understand and see just were their donated money would be spent.
“We [the company] are just so excited to be able to help these local first responder groups to get what they need to get,” said Phillips 66 representative Philip Williamson.
Chief Russell not only explained the various benefits to the local fire crew obtaining the new piece of equipment, he also did a small demonstration for the Phillips 66 gentlemen to understand just how important it was to have full up-to-date equipment.
Chief Russell said opportunities such as the Phillips 66 grant are extremely important to small regional crews to help bring in extra money to either replace equipment, service or purchase new.