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It may not sound like much, but the Allegheny National Forest's donation of a fire engine to the Cherry Grove Volunteer Fire Department is incredibly beneficial to Clarendon-area residents.
The transfer, made possible through the Federal Excess Property Program, places surplus federal equipment into the hands of local emergency responders to support public safety and wildfire response. The Cherry Grove Volunteer Fire Department is one of the local departments called upon when there is a wildfire, medical incident or car accident inside the Allegheny National Forest.
“This engine is going to be a great asset to our community,” Barr said. “It increases our flexibility to best serve the public when they need it most.”
Those responses are becoming a taller order as time passes as volunteers struggle both to recruit manpower but also to afford new equipment. Used rescue trucks, for example, can cost between $70,000 and $175,000 while a wildland or brush truck with 4×4 capability can cost anywhere between $50,000 and $150,000. Buying new vehicles is even more expensive – and running them at the current cost of diesel fuel just adds to the cost.
It makes sense for the Allegheny National Forest to support its neighboring departments by providing surplus vehicles to surrounding fire departments that the forest relies upon. And, in this case, the federal government did so despite knowing it could have recouped some of its cost by trading in the vehicle that ended up becoming part of the Cherry Grove VFD fleet.
Managing such vast expanses of forest in rural areas takes an incredible amount of partnership between the federal and local governments. The donation of a truck to the Cherry Grove VFD is a time when that partnership comes back to benefit local residents.