The Lamar County Board of Supervisors approved three requests from Fire Coordinator Kyle Hill last week to apply for grants that would provide a ladder truck at the Purvis station, training materials and a rescue airbag system.
Appointments also were made for an assistant county fire coordinator and commissioners during the Board of Supervisors meeting at the William J. “Pete” Gamble III Chancery Courthouse.
Hill explained the grant for the Southeast Lamar Volunteer Fire Department ladder truck to the supervisors.
“We have applied for this grant, and I know aerial apparatus, or ladder truck, grants are very difficult to get,” he said. “Usually it takes several times before you are successful in getting it. When we say ‘ladder truck,’ people ask, ‘Why do we need a ladder truck?’ You need to think about it this way: This truck is actually a pumper. It just happens to have a ladder on the top of it. All of our pumpers have ladders on them now.”
The truck would have a 75-foot ladder, which could be beneficial to protect the county buildings in Purvis, Hill said.
“If you start with the State Rating Bureau, once you get past so many two-story buildings or above so much square footage, then you’re talking about the industrial park,” he said. “This apparatus could be required to maintain a rating. We’re not at that point yet.”
The Assistance to Firefighter’s Grant total is $740,000 with a 10 percent match of $67,272 to be paid for from Purvis distributions over five years.
The Board of Supervisors also approved applying for a $24,605.94 Assistance to Firefighter’s Grant for training materials, with a 10 percent match paid through the Fire Coordination funds.
Another grant being sought for the Southeast Fire Department is $5,000 through Plains Pipeline toward the purchase of rescue airbag system to be housed at Southeast Fire Stations. The estimated cost of system is $5,185, and any excess cost will be paid from Southeast funds.
Hill also received approval from the board to appoint Andrew Pylant as assistant fire coordinator.
“Over the past few months, I have learned of the value of various personnel in the fire services. One of those being Andrew Pylant,” Hill said. “Andrew had taken on many tasks through the Fire Coordinators Office for the previous fire coordinator.”
Hill said Pylant will be managing payroll for all firefighters for every fire department in Lamar County, writing and managing grants for all fire departments in Lamar County that request this service, and managing stipend programs for all participating fire departments in Lamar County.
Hill said Pylant had been performing these duties with no compensation or position consideration for performance of activities. So, approving the designation will not require any additional compensation.
The supervisors also approved the appointment of commissioners for five fire protection districts. Those districts include:
*Central Lamar - Andy Geske, Randal Gene Bodie, Daniel Broome, Wayne Johnson Jr., Wynn Brackman, and Jimmy Hughes (treasurer);
*Northeast Lamar - Chuck Knight, Chuck Abadie, C.R. Dixon, and Tom Farrar;
*Oak Grove - George Herrington, Jay Staats, Wayne Ross, Clint Atkins, Martin Bateman, G. Herrington (treasurer):
*Oloh - Melvind Gaddis, Terry Randal, Jerry Mayo, Barbara Foles, Mike Humphries, and B. Foles (treasurer); and
*Southwest Lamar - Linda Pigott, Lane Vowel, Jake Sones, Larry Bracey, Wanda Bauerle, and W. Bauerle (treasurer).