Golinda VFD Secures Water Tender
The Golinda Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) has a new vehicle on the way thanks to a recently awarded $300,000 grant!
“This grant is through the Texas (A&M) Forest Service, who received a one-time increase from the legislature to help fund a bunch of the backlogged requests for equipment, trucks, and things like that,” said Golinda VFD Chief Brian Lamb.
According to Lamb, the wildfires in the Panhandle over the summer opened the eyes of state leadership to the needs of rural volunteer fire services. The one-time increase to the Rural VFD Assistance Program by the 89th Legislative session totaled $192 million dollars for unfunded requests, and appropriated an additional $44 million over the next two years to help the program keep pace with ongoing demand.
“Typically you put the request in years in advanceyou just get in line and year by year, they fulfil however much they can and you keep moving up in the line until you’re chosen. This year they were able to fund a bunch of those backlogs and help clear those requests for trucks and slip-on units to help fight the fires,” Lamb said. “We received a grant for up to $300,000 and we’re using the money toward a new water tender to help carry 4,000 gallons of water to incidents as needed. We have ordered our truck and are expected to take delivery at the end of February/first part of March.”
The Golinda VFD is currently made up of 10 volunteer firefighters and 4 support staff; they meet monthly to review incidents and discuss opportunities for improvement, and they also hold one training meeting per month. While volunteer firefighters don’t bring home a salary, the bells and whistles required of the job come at a cost.
“Fire equipment is not cheap; it takes departments years to save money to upgrade just regular PPE like structure gear, helmets, flashlights, small things like that take years to save up and replace, especially for rural departments,” Lamb said. “We just bought new gear for our department and the average cost just for the pants and the jacket was right at $2,500 apiece. When you buy 10 sets, that’s $25,000.”
Next week, Golinda VFD will partner with the City of Golinda and local churches to provide Thanksgiving dinner to the community. The “Feast of Sharing” will be free to the public on Saturday, Nov. 15 from 11 am - 1:30 pm at the Golinda VFD station (7021 Golinda Dr.). Lamb is grateful for the chance to give back to the community that is generous to his department.
“That’s the great thing about our community: they help out tremendously in keeping our daily operations going with the donations they provide, not only monetary but also bottled water to keep at the station or on trucks,” Lamb said. “The community helps out as much as they can and we are greatly appreciative of everything they do.”