Ledger-Dispatch

By Scott Thomas Anderson (sanderson@ledger-dispatch.c= om)=20

Sutter Creek firefighters Dan Barnes = and Aaron=20 Watkins help distribute new vehicle rescue equipment to five local = fire=20 departments. They equipment was bought with the help of a federal=20 grant.

Photo by: Scott Thomas=20 Anderson
The victory of Measure M on the = November=20 ballot isn't the only thing local firefighters have to be happy=20 about.

Five departments were recently awarded federal grant money = for new=20 equipment that could help save lives on Amador County's = highways.

The=20 quest to get the funding began last year when the Sutter Creek Fire = Protection=20 District and Jackson City Fire Department were having a joint training = session=20 and realized that their gear for rescuing people trapped in burning = vehicles=20 wasn't uniform or new enough. In some cases, individual pieces of = equipment=20 weren't compatible from department to department. A quick check with = other=20 emergency agencies in the county proved the issue was = common.

Sutter=20 Creek's firefighters took the lead in requesting help from the National = Highway=20 Safety Administration. This week, Sutter Creek's department was granted = $181,000=20 from the NHTSA to buy up-to-date, universally compatible rescue = equipment for=20 themselves and four other local departments, including the Lockwood Fire = Protection District, Jackson City Fire Department, Amador Fire = Protection=20 District battalions 10 and 20. Additional training will also be provided = to 40=20 firefighters in the area.

"The region is experiencing rapid = growth, which=20 is resulting in a large increase in motor vehicle accidents and rescue=20 challenges," said Dan Barnes, a Sutter Creek firefighter. "What this = grant does=20 is make all the departments in the county compatible with their tools. = It brings=20 departments like Lockwood, whose stuff was really outdated, back up to=20 speed."

Sutter Creek Fire Chief Butch Martin felt the grant was a = sign=20 that cooperation between the various departments was paying = off.

"I think=20 what this proves is that consolidation works," he said.

Both = Martin and=20 Barnes stressed that, even though Measure M's revenue generating = strategy for=20 funding paid firefighters and emergency medical personnel will = eventually=20 strengthen the local fire departments in a significant way, there is = still a=20 major need for volunteers.

"The need for volunteers won't be = going away,"=20 said Barnes. "And right now, while we're waiting for the Measure M money = to kick=20 in, all the departments can barely keep their shifts covered."

Scott Thomas = Anderson