2010 afg

[MoneyMan29]

Well now since the Station Grant, Fire Prevention Grant, and SAFER Grant has been submitted for 2009 and we have notification of 1199 for 1 of 2 2009 AFG Grants, the ops side, now onto thinking and starting work towards 2010 AFG Ops Grant.

In 2007, we were a small volunteer department with 21 members. We were in need of everything. Funds were low and no fix in sight til the AFG Grants started helping. The years 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 were never applied for cause the membership at the time just wasn't active in grant sources. Then 2005 a few new members from career depts came and we started grant work. However 2005 we were late in the game and started the application process mid way after it was opened. Neighboring depts. said we were in such bad shape to apply for everything we need cause it would more than likely be awarded. Thats what we did $235,000.00 and not one specific project. Well you all know where that got me. Didn't make it past the computer.

Then 2006 came and we did 19 sets of structural gear, 19 sets of wildland gear, 10 SCBA sets, 5 mobile radios, 10 portable radios and 1 TIC. Only got reduced to 18 sets of structural gear. Man we were so happy. Our SCBA's were goin to be out dated in Sept. of 2007 and we would be out looking for a loan which I dont know how we would of paid off. We were in the late rounds of that grant so we were actually awarded in Feb. of 2007.

Then 2007 came and we were more familiar with the process and applied for $56,000 in RIT equipment. Thought we had a good grant. But come Feb. of 2008. We got DJ'ed for lack of funds. So we went far.

Then came the best year of grants and the best find I ever made for the department. This came in the form of Brian Vickers. He took our RIT grant and tweeked it and also wrote for a quick attack/mini pumper. RIT was awarded in the 4th round and Vehicle awarded in Dec. So got 2 for 2 that year. We also applied for an FP Grant for knox boxes that year but got DJ'ed for that. We did the boxes for the trucks, the boxes for businesses, the locks for gates, preplanning equipment, and 150 residential boxes (This is what i think killed the grant).

Now in 2009 we did AFG for rescue $77,000.00 and now have an 1199 for that. AFG for tanker, with no word yet. Station grant got denied, knew we would more than likely but applied to show FEMA the need for this grant to continue. FP we did the knox boxes again minus the residential boxes. And now just finished SAFER for the first time.

Next, onto preparation for 2010. Since we got our 18 sets of gear back in 2007 we have had an influx of members. This semester at Maryland Fire Rescue Institute we have 9 members taking Fire Fighter 1 and 1 in EMT class. We have 14 signed up to take Haz Mat Ops. So we are getting new people and moving forward manpower wise. My problem is PPE. We are now in a situation that we have more members than we have gear. So at this point we are sharing about 11 sets of gear. 7 People that are the most active have their own and the other 22 are now sharing gear on a first show up gets the gear basis. Good but not good situation for the department to have.


Now onto my question to everyone here. A full PPE grant should include what? 2006's grant we didn't do a complete PPE grant persay. Here's my thoughts and please adivse.

12 complete sets of PPE
30 sets of EMS gear
30 sets of gear for water rescue
Gear washer/extractor
Gear dryer
Portable radios
11 complete sets of wildland PPE

Is there anything else in the PPE line that would make this a complete grant package? I'm assuming and figuring on 30 members at application time?
We run 1 engine 1 mini pumper 1 rescue 1 ambulance 1 brush truck
We have 2 rivers that run through the first due area.

[Catch22]

You sound a lot like our department, even the size. We finally got our first grant in 2005 (pumper-tanker) after numerous attempts. We've recieved one every year since.

As far as your question at the end, that's a hard one. I know a lot of guys talk about staying away from the "shopping cart" list, and I totally agree with that. However, I've had good luck the last two years going for total-solution projects.

Last year we recieved an award for a water supply project that included LDH, adapters/appliances, intakes, suction hose/strainers, and Turbodrafts. While it could be considerd a shopping cart approach, it fully addressed our water supply needs.

This year I'm sitting on an 1199a for a fire attack grant. It consists of attack hose, all new nozzles, blitz monitors, a deck gun for a truck missing one, a skid unit, and a hose coupling machine to maintain the hose (already have a hose tester).

I think if you can logically tie it all in together, you can pull it off.

[rands1]

Just my two cents, I would go for the 12 sets of firefighting PPE along with the washer and dryer. I'm not fully sure what you mean by ems gear (jump suites, ems bags,ect?) PPE is high on the list. Go after something that give you a good shot at getting the grant. Remember it is needs not wants. Also keep your list short, don't make it a shopping cart. If you can justify water rescue equipment then fine, but I would not go after 30 sets. It would be very unlikely that you would have all 30 members show up all of the time. I would cut it down to 8 or 10 sets if you really need it. Remember that you have to show or ask for training to use this special equipment which will give each member some kind of certification. Good luck with your app.

[Catch22]

Just my two cents, I would go for the 12 sets of firefighting PPE along with the washer and dryer. I'm not fully sure what you mean by ems gear (jump suites, ems bags,ect?) PPE is high on the list. Go after something that give you a good shot at getting the grant. Remember it is needs not wants. Also keep your list short, don't make it a shopping cart. If you can justify water rescue equipment then fine, but I would not go after 30 sets. It would be very unlikely that you would have all 30 members show up all of the time. I would cut it down to 8 or 10 sets if you really need it. Remember that you have to show or ask for training to use this special equipment which will give each member some kind of certification. Good luck with your app.

You're doing a better job than I could have with what I was thinking as I read part of the post. Until I could figure out how to word it, I held off.

Like rands1, I'd be careful with some of what you're asking for. The bunker gear, washer/extractor, and dryer tie in naturally. Wildland gear to me fits in naturally, as well.

Depending on your EMS status, that could tie in, but you may be excessive if you don't have a lot of EMT or above people to justify it. The water rescue gear may also be in the same boat, especially if you don't have 30 people that are water rescue trained/certified.

If it were me, I'd look at the bunkers, wildland, washer/extractor, dryer, and radios and use the angle that I was trying to outfit new firefighters since the last PPE grant (assuming that's the case). I'd leave the EMS and water rescue gear out of it. That's if it were me.

[islandfire03]

moneyman: Just my humble opinion.
If I was in your shoes , I would ask for :
1. Turnout gear head to toe for all the new members, $1900.00 per set seems to be the limit.
2. gear washer /extractor

3.EMS coats that meet BBP certification $260.00 limit 1 per licensed EMT/Paramedic
3. Portable radios to make your total be 1 radio per seat belted position on your apparatus including 5 on the ambulance.

I would avoid the total package approach as it will bring your cost benefit ratio to a point where you might not be competitive. To me it seems that smaller departments have a $$ threshold where you stop getting past the computer scoring to peer review.
We are a similar sized dept and have been more successful with smaller $$ focused grant applications. we did a shopping cart one year and didn't make it past the computer. We've since gotten all those items ,by spreading them out over three years.

Just my personal feelings and prior experience with the program.

[jam24u]

What about pagers for your new additional members? Hydration packs, fire shelters and harnesses for the shelters to go with your wildland gear. Learned my lesson on fire shelters. Got 12 of them last year with no way to carry them efficently. Because those shelters are heavy and half the size of a concrete block. With my member additions I requested the structurals and wildland same as last year, but included the harnesses.

[onebugle]

Not knowing other demographics such as call volume, budget etc. the chances of such an application succeeding is remote. PPE (structural) is the #1 priority meaning that the overall score can be reduced by the lower priority items. The other issue is that you have to defend each of those items in your narrative; a very difficult task with a 5 page limit. In addition, the cost vs. benefit will be too high more than likely bouncing the application by the computer.

You are looking at water rescue equipment. The issue will be if this is a new mission. If so, it will have the lowest priority further hurting your application.

Wildland gear is important if you are dealing with those types of fires, but if you have a low occurance, low acreage it will hurt the application. The same with the EMS gear.

Since you are in need of PPE (structural) that would be what I would aim for;
PPE, washer & dryer. Then look at the other items in future years.

[mtndew21]

Could they not benefit splitting off the EMS as a separate unit then apply for the EMS gear other then Fire ? They could also include the remaining pagers they need.
Just seems that they are trying to get it all now.

I would though like to house his recruiter for a month so I could have his problems.

[onebugle]

If you have federal land such as a wildlife refuge in your juristiction and have a population under 10,000 you could be eligible for a Rural Fire Assistance grant. This could be used to fund the wildland firefighting PPE. This grant opportunity is open and closes in February.

POC's can be found here:

http://www.nifc.gov/rfa/2009/FY09%20...chment%20C.doc

[medic190]

I concur with the others; structural PPE for all remaining or new members and gear washer would likely be an easy slam dunk. EMS PPE, a little harder but is everybody in the FD an EMS responder? If not, I'd reduce the numbers or omit for this coming year. Same with water rescue and wildland - if it is a new mission or if your call volume is low, it will be hard to justify to peer...

On a side note - great idea with the knox system on FP! I never thought of that... (and have been trying to figure out a way to start / fund the knox type system in my district!) Would you be willing to share some thoughts / narrative on the knox idea?

Best of luck for 2010!

[Catch22]

Could they not benefit splitting off the EMS as a separate unit then apply for the EMS gear other then Fire ? They could also include the remaining pagers they need.
Just seems that they are trying to get it all now.

I would though like to house his recruiter for a month so I could have his problems.

You have to be careful with crossing different categories (PPE and EMS, for example), as one can drag down your score. PPE priority, like was mentioned, is structural gear. Wildland gear is up there if you have a high occurrance.

When you get into EMS, PPE is important, but it seems like the preference is toward going from BLS to ALS, at least from my understanding.

Like I say, you can do the group project, but you have to be able to tie it all in and justify it all enough to score well enough for an award. Sometimes you're better off to break it up and ask for different parts in different years.

[LVFD301]

I echo the part about a new mission. I also think 30 sets? What are you including in that?

Wildland if you are running brush fires, will go at least 399 for a set. We also included 80 for
camelbacks.

A lot like you, we got a grant a couple of years ago for PPE, but due to a SAFER grant that has worked really well, we now needed 12 more sets. Got our reduction just the other day.

Our set included helmet, pants, coat, boots, hood, fox fury helmet light, gloves, Wildland suit, camelbacks and ansi vests. 2800 per person.

Gear washer should be a lock, not sure about the radios though.

Can I ask how were you justifying the residential boxes? Were you trying just high risk households?

[dfd701]

jam24u.... Did you get my email yesterday on the com grant?

[MoneyMan29]

So let me add some to this. We had 21 members when we got the 18 so that gave us 3 short. We now have 26 members and are receiving applications almost every month. I'm anticipating to have 30, if not more by the time the grants open again. We run around 300 ambulance calls. Not everyone are EMT's, however they all are CPR certified and drive the ambulance on the calls, so they are exposed to the same dangers as the EMT's.

That said maybe this would be a better grant after listening to everyone talk.

12 Structural gear sets @ $2,400 (Coat, pants, helmet, hood, gloves, suspenders, footware, and integrated RIT features) Received $2,125 per each in 2006 grant

11 Wildland gear sets @ $750 (Jumpsuit, boots, gloves, helmet and goggles) Received $525 per each in 2006 grant

30 EMS jumpsuits - Don't have a price

15 Flashlights @ $150 Received $135 per each in 2006 grant

20 SCBA facepieces @ $600 Received $550 per each in 2006 grant

Gear washer/extractor - Don't have a price

Gear dryer - Don't have a price

[JSMV72]

Hi gang, I am also starting to work on our 2010 AFG. I am writing for a mobile live burn trailer. Is their anything special I need to be aware of for this. Also what would the changes be of asking for a vehicle to be able to tow it with to make it more accessable for the other departments in our county the we mutual aid with?

[islandfire03]

Hi gang, I am also starting to work on our 2010 AFG. I am writing for a mobile live burn trailer. Is their anything special I need to be aware of for this. Also what would the changes be of asking for a vehicle to be able to tow it with to make it more accessable for the other departments in our county the we mutual aid with?

burn trailers are possible. low priority. Truck to tow it with =not going to happen and will lower your score on the trailer.
contact NEIOWA to get hooked up with a federal surplus truck for tow vehicle

[onebugle]

Hi gang, I am also starting to work on our 2010 AFG. I am writing for a mobile live burn trailer. Is their anything special I need to be aware of for this. Also what would the changes be of asking for a vehicle to be able to tow it with to make it more accessable for the other departments in our county the we mutual aid with?

A mobile burn trailer is doable project and has been awarded in the past. As for the tow vehicle per the PG:

Tow vehicles may be eligible as an expense under this activity if adequately justified; however, we will limit such expenses to $6,000 per year per application.

The key selling point to this will be making the trailer available to other mutual aid departments to increase the frequency of use. The other issue will be the cost to transport it, instructors, fuel etc. It would be best to have an MOA in place with other departments prior to submitting the application to show that interest among the other departments.

Also, make sure you indicate that other training areas (if any) are too far away making it diffucult for FF's to obtain burn training.

[JSMV72]

A mobile burn trailer is doable project and has been awarded in the past. As for the tow vehicle per the PG:



The key selling point to this will be making the trailer available to other mutual aid departments to increase the frequency of use. The other issue will be the cost to transport it, instructors, fuel etc. It would be best to have an MOA in place with other departments prior to submitting the application to show that interest among the other departments.

Also, make sure you indicate that other training areas (if any) are too far away making it diffucult for FF's to obtain burn training.

We have mutual aid agreements with 13 other departments in our county. I will talked that up in the narrative, but what is a MOA. I am also thinking about making the trailer available to out N.W. Iowa Fire School held at Western Iowa Tech Community College.

[Limeforever]

MOA = Memoradum of Understanding, an agreement that puts in place who is responsible for what and who will control the items and provide for the cost of operartiona and maintenance of the item.

[onebugle]

MOA = Memoradum of Understanding, an agreement that puts in place who is responsible for what and who will control the items and provide for the cost of operartiona and maintenance of the item.

As Limeforever pointed out Memoradum of Agreement (MOA) or Memoradum of Understanding (MOU).