Kokomo Tribune; Kokomo, Indiana

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March 14, 2010

City, county receive fire grant

Funds will pay for new mobile radios.

By Scott Smith

City and county first responders will receive new mobile radios, courtesy of an $819,000 U.S. Department of Homeland Security grant announced last week.

Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., announced Wednesday three Indiana cities will receive funding in the current competitive grant cycle, as part of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant program.

City and county officials will use the grant funding to replace radios, many of which have been in use for the better part of two decades, Deputy Fire Chief Brad Bray said Thursday.

“Ultimately, we’re very close to being outdated on our current radios,” city director of operations Randy Morris said. “Within the next two years, we would have had to replace them anyway, so this is basically saving local taxpayers $1 million.”

Bray said the Kokomo Fire Department and Howard County volunteer departments all will get new radios from the grant, with the radios allocated based on the number of seats on each apparatus owned by each department.

The grant is an 80/20 match, with the total value of the new radios to be purchased more than $1 million. The city and county will split the matching money.

“Our problem is our portables are old, and keep breaking every day. Every fire we get we lose a radio,” Bray said.

The KFD is down to six replacement radios, and the manufacturer no longer supports the current equipment, Bray said.

In the past, new emergency response radios have been financed out of E911 fees collected on local phone bills. City and county officials spent about $1.5 million in 1998 to upgrade police, sheriff and Howard County Emergency Management Agency radios out of E911 dollars.

Bray said he will seek bids on the new radios. He said the radios to be purchased will conform to the current radio system operated by the city and county. All first responders across the county are able to communicate on the same system.

News of the grant Wednesday came close on the heels of another grant, received by KFD, to purchase 10 new pulse oximeters.

The devices, which cost $45,000, allow firefighters to quickly determine blood gas levels, such as oxygen and carbon monoxide, at a fire scene.

Bray said the devices also will be able to indicate whether a toxic substance is interfering with the ability of a person’s red blood cells to acquire oxygen.

• Scott Smith is a Kokomo Tribune staff writer. He may be reached at 765-454-8569 or via e-mail at scott.smith@kokomotribune.com

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