By Mary Drier
Staff Writer
FAIRGROVE — Selling fish dinners during Lent is helping the Fairgrove Fire Department raise money for equipment, according to fire Chief Doug Young’s update during Monday’s village meeting.
“We had a very good turnout at the dinners. We served over 700 people,” Young said, noting the Modern Woodsmen organization will donate up to $850 to match the proceeds.
Outfitting each firefighter with all the necessary personal protective equipment costs almost $12,000. To demonstrate that point, Young designed a poster showing the name of each piece of equipment and its cost.
He pointed out that bunker plants cost $695, a helmet costs $285, a mask $625, SCBA (Self-contained Breathing Apparatus) costs $6,800, and an ax costs $95.
“Altogether it costs $11,730 per fireman to outfit them,” said Young.
In other fire department news, Pete Wood, Tanner Moore, and Nick Maguire completed firefighter One and Two training, and will be taking the state examine soon. And, two firefighters did agriculture safety as well as emergency elevator response training.
The department handled six calls in March with four being for mutual aid, and the rest were grass fires.
“(Grass fires) it is the season for that,” said Young noting burn permits are needed for grass fires.
Fire permits are free, and good for four days from date of issue. Plus, Young should be notified if someone is planning on having a bonfire. The number for the fire department is (989) 6881.
Mary Drier is a staff writer for the Tuscola County Advertiser. She can be reached at drier@tcadvertiser.com.