Other needed items also made possible through generous donations by area groups

“A lot of this stuff if we didn’t have the donations, we couldn’t pay for it,” Boyd-Edson-Del- mar Fire Chief Ron Patten shared of the fire de partment and its equipment needs.

Thanks in part to generous donors, it does have Among the new things the department has recently purchased are a Gear Extractor industrial washing machine for $7,151. The essential purchase to remove cancer-causing chemicals GEAR

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from fire gear after a blaze has rolling action as opposed to the old Maytag with tub nearby, and was made possible with the proceeds from two years of Martino’s fundraiser earnings.

“Not all the money, but most of the money from two years,” Patten said of what went into purchasing the washer. The Gear Extractor can do one set of turnout gear at a time, while the dryer, which isn’t as expensive as the Gear Extractor and involves blowing air, isn’t owned by the department yet. Firefighters are at greater risk for lung, lymph node, and testicular cancer, with the washer an important tool in taking out the chemicals that might otherwise soak through their gear and cause trouble—but there are other purchases and donations as well.

Among them is a $2,000 donation from the Truck Pull used for ambulance equipment, along with $1,000, part of which was used to purchase a saw that can cut through steel roofs, made necessary by such roofs growing popularity.

Among firefighter donations, meanwhile, is one from Amy O’Donnell raised through Pampered Chef, and used to buy a Port-A-Torch. So what’s the Port-A Torch for, in terms of firefighting or EMS?

“The Port-A-Torch can be used to cut through farm machinery if someone’s trapped in it,” O’Donnell said of the torch’s utility.

As to those who might be interested in attending fire board, meanwhile, Chief Patten said the board meets the last Wednesday of each quarter, these being in January, April, July, and October. The meetings are open to the public.

Amy O’Donnell (left) and Fire Chief Ron Patten show the saw that will be used to cut through steel roofs made possible through a $1,000 donation by the Stanley Truck Pull and purchased for $867. Below, O’Donnell shows off the Port-A-Torch that can be used to cut through farm machinrery if needed in rescue operations. Photo by Joseph Back.