MSA Safety, DuPont Personal Protection, and the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) have partnered for the 12th year to help volunteer fire departments obtain much-needed personal protective equipment.
Through MSA and DuPont’s Globe Gear Giveaway, 13 fire departments will be awarded four new sets of state-of-the-art turnout gear and helmets in 2023. The first 500 applicants also received a one-year NVFC membership, courtesy of MSA.
Outdoor recreation accidents
The first two recipients of the 2023 giveaway are South Boundary Fire Protection District (Naples, ID) and Springfield (CO) Volunteer Fire Department.
South Boundary Fire Protection District serves the rural community of Naples in northern Idaho
South Boundary Fire Protection District serves the rural community of Naples in northern Idaho. The department, which is run almost entirely by volunteers, serves a population of 12,000 across 74 square miles. They respond to an average of 262 calls per year, with incidents ranging from wildland fires, natural disasters, and outdoor recreation accidents to aircraft crashes, train derailments, and structure/commercial fires.
Personal protective equipment
With a high call volume and extensive list of incident types, some requiring the response of all members, it’s critical that each member of the department has safe and appropriate personal protective equipment to respond in. However, the crew has been running on a bare minimum number of turnouts. When the inevitable repair or cleaning needs to be done, the department must choose between sending less members than needed to a call or having some use old, soiled, or unsafe gear.
Assistant Fire Chief Wayne Wilkerson explained that “Having [enough gear] available for a small department in which every individual may need to respond is crucial to our ability to provide adequate response to emergency situations in our district, as well as mutual aid response to our county departments.”
Extreme fire danger
A great portion of the county is semi-desert prairie, making for extreme fire danger in the area
Located in rural southeastern Colorado, Springfield Volunteer Fire Department consists of 17 members that are responsible for the 2,500-square-mile response area. The department responds to approximately 120 calls per year.
A great portion of the county is semi-desert prairie, making for extreme fire danger in the area. The department’s response area also includes two major highways and critical infrastructure such as wind power farms, gas and electrical transmission lines, an airport, a railroad, and several schools.
Regional economic downturn
Regional economic downturn and inflation have made it difficult to cover the organization’s operating costs. This has forced the department to make drastic cuts to non-critical expenditures in order to sustain its level of service. Included in the cuts was the purchase of new personal protective equipment.
“If we were to be [selected for] MSA and DuPont’s Globe Gear Giveaway, I know that all our members would feel much safer when responding to calls,” said Chief Chris Westphal. “To be frank, the only way I see our department being able to afford adequate gear is through a program such as yours.”