Firemen on ladder, spraying water on fire. (Photo illustration)

Seven fire departments in Washington County have been awarded a combined $282,582.03 through a new grant program administered by the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of State Fire Marshal.

Warren Township Fire Chief Mile Wile said the department learned of the opportunity in November after receiving notice from the State Fire Marshal about funding available to departments in small-population counties. The Ohio Department of Commerce allocated $8 million statewide for the program, with 77 of Ohio’s 88 counties qualifying, he said.

“We just got notified that we were awarded that,” Wile said. “I think there’s seven departments in Washington County that got the funding and it came to a little over $282,000 from Washington County, which I thought was a really great thing to help out the fire departments.”

According to the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of State Fire Marshal, the following departments received funding:

¯ Dunham Township Volunteer Fire Department – $50,000

¯ Lowell-Adams Volunteer Joint Fire District – $49,906.60

¯ Little Hocking Volunteer Fire Department – $49,813.43

¯ Little Muskingum Volunteer Fire Department – $4,699

¯ Reno Volunteer Fire Department – $49,396

¯ Warren Township Volunteer Fire Department – $28,767

¯ Watertown Volunteer Fire Department – $50,000

Warren Township requested funding for five sets of turnout gear to replace aging equipment, new LED hand lights for trucks and additional scene lighting to improve safety during nighttime emergencies, Wile said.

“When we’re operating at a car wreck or something out on the highway at night, we can light up the area to make it safer for our members to work and perform their tasks,” he said.

Wile said awards across the county ranged from about $4,600 to $50,000 per department.

“It means equipment that we otherwise couldn’t afford, or we’d have to do some kind of fundraiser in order to get the money to buy this equipment,” Wile said. “It replaces a lot of outdated or obsolete equipment. It allows us to buy some new equipment that we may not be able to afford. But the biggest thing is being able to provide for our residents and to keep our members safer.”

Wile said the grant program is new and it is unclear whether it will continue annually.

In addition to the State Fire Marshal funding, the Dunham Township Volunteer Fire Department announced on its Facebook page that it also received a $12,000 matching grant from the Ohio Division of Forestry to purchase new wildland firefighting gear. The department stated that the National Fire Protection Association requires wildland gear to be replaced every 10 years and that its current gear is past due for replacement.

The department said it will use its $50,000 State Fire Marshal grant to purchase equipment for a new fire truck expected to be delivered in the coming months.

“Without the grant money, we would have had to furnish the new truck with the old gear from the truck we will be replacing,” the department stated.

Dunham officials said the grants allow the department to update equipment without placing additional financial burden on township residents and that it plans to continue pursuing similar funding opportunities.