State Fire Grant Case Study

During an impromptu conference call with the state fire marshal, county officials learned all but one of Wayne County’s fire departments received more than $700,000 in funding to purchase new radios.
County commissioners Jim Carmichael, Ann Obrecht and Scott Wiggam were meeting Wednesday with Joe Villegas, director of the Emergency Management Agency who spearheaded the grant application, and he happened to mention fire departments were in the process of being notified about receiving the grant, which will help offset the costs of purchasing new, more expensive radios, as the county transitions to the state’s Multi-Agency Radio Communications System.
Carmichael, who served in the Ohio House of Representatives with Larry Flowers, now the state fire marshal, called his friend to find out from the horse’s
Wayne County fire officials showed the state fire marshal in their application, “We are unified, we want to improve and we’re doing it together,” Sweigert said.
Each department will receive $50,000 for MARCS radios. Rittman has about 30 older radios, some 15 years old. The grant will pay for 16. “It doesn’t replace all radios, but it’s a heck of a start,” Sweigert said. With much of the county moving to MARCS, the chief expressed concern he wouldn’t be able to communicate with half of Wayne County. Rittman just doesn’t have it in its budget to purchase all the radios.
Because the grant does not cover all costs, Wooster Fire Chief Barry Saley has been working on the federal Assistance to Firefighters Grant with all of the departments for additional funding, Murphy added.
While the county was waiting to hear news about award of the grant, Carmichael called Flowers to inquire about the status. “He told me, ‘Don’t worry, Jim, it’s almost in the bank.’” Well, the word “almost” did worry Carmichael, and he was glad to hear the positive news