Fire department receives grant

The Stonelick Township Fire and Rescue has received a $15,000 grant from the Firemen’s Fund Insurance Company in Morrow, Ohio.

Presented to the fire department by Firemen’s Fund representatives Jim Hawley and Dan Fosnot at the trustee’s regular meeting July 2, the $15,000 has enabled the fire department to purchase much needed items not covered in the department’s annual budget.

The fire and EMS department has been able to purchase seven new fire nozzles, a thermal imaging camera, new fire hoses, a ventilation saw, and a vehicle stabilization jack – all things that the fire department really needed, said fire chief Phil Shumard.

“The timing of the grant was perfect,” Shumard said. “We received them on a Friday, and used them to help combat the fire at the Carney’s Feed Mill the very next day, which really helped us in fighting that blaze.”

The Firemen's Fund Insurance Company, which began in 1863 San Francisco, was named for an agreement in which 10 percent of profits now go toward the loved ones of fallen fire fighters, a mission that, through the Firemen's Fund Heritage Program, gives millions of dollars every year in grants for equipment, training, and many other educational programs to fire departments.

Stonelick Township, which has seven full-time staff, four part-time staff, and 17 volunteers, now joins 14 other fire departments in Ohio which have been awarded Firemen's Fund grants, totaling more than $250,000.

"In the five years we have been doing this, we have given out more than 17 million dollars," said Firemen's Fund Insurance Company executive service consultant Jim Hawley. "We are very pleased that Stonelick Township will benefit from these funds."