NEWS

Autauga Co. firefighters group to get 130 air packs

Matt Okarmus
Montgomery Advertiser

Volunteer firefighters in Autauga County received good news Friday in the form of a grant that will help them purchase new breathing units.

The Autauga County Firefighters Association, which covers 10 different volunteer fire departments in the county, received a grant for $614,250 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The award does not include the fire department in the city of Prattville.

Lance Messer, president of the association, said the group was "very excited" to receive the funds. "We are blessed to be able to receive this," Messer said. "It's a big honor."

To obtain the grant, the association had to provide a 10 percent match. Total funding for the project will be more than $680,000, and Messer said the association will provide the remainder of the cost.

Association funds are provided through fundraisers and from the county budget. Each of the county's volunteer units is funded primarily through a special 3 percent fire protection tax that has been imposed upon rural residents since 1996.

Messer said the funds will be able to provide 130 air packs.

"It's what firefighters wear on their backs so they have oxygen when they go into a burning house," he said.

The 130 units that will be purchased will replace air packs that did not meet current standards or posed health and safety risks to the firefighters.