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The Harlan City Council were informed during the panel’s regular meeting for October that the Harlan City Fire Department recently were awarded a Community Wildfire Defense Grant in the amount of $250,000.
“They did get their grant for a quarter of a million dollars,” City of Harlan Mayor Joe Meadors said. “This is going to come in pretty handy for a lot of areas in our city that are right up against the woods.”
Meadors called on Harlan City Fire Chief James Billings to provide the council with some information regarding the grant and how the funds will be utilized.
“Very soon on Nov. 1, we’re going out and doing house assessments,” Billings said. “It’s a hazard assessment.”
Billings explained that the Harlan City Fire Department will be assessing how susceptible individual houses in the city are to the dangers of nearby wildfire. The grant will also be used to acquire software designed to instantly retrieve information on how susceptible a specific structure is should it catch fire. He added some of the funds will also be used to upgrade the department’s vehicle fleet.
“We’re going to be able to get GPS on everything, we’ll have the name, address, what the house is built out of, it’s just an amazing thing,” Billings explained.
Billings told the council his department is in the process of seeking other grants for which the department can apply.
Meadors praised the fire department for their work resulting in the grant being awarded.
“I’ve got to give them their props,” Meadors said. “When they called me to come up to the meeting where they were formally announcing we were going to get this grant, I was pulled aside at the meeting and told me how rare it is for a city our size to receive this grant. Got to give them credit.”
Meadors added that other than the chief and assistant chief, the Harlan City Fire Department is made up of volunteers.