How the Grant Has Helped:

"The grant has made a tremendous impact on the department," says A.D. Atkinson, Chief of the Lee County Fire Department. "We lacked basic resources like SCBAs and PASS devices, so it has been a great help. Our goal is to become OSHA and NFPA compliant, and with the help of the grant, we are almost there."

A Lee County Fire Department volunteer trains with one of the new SCBAs purchased with their AFG grant.

Before receiving the grant, only 4 percent of Lee County's firefighters had their own SCBA facepieces and 25 percent had access to spare air cylinders. With the grant funds, now all of the volunteers have been equipped with their own facepieces and all have access to spare air cylinders.

The grant has helped to meet the needs of Lee County's growing, rural fire department. The Department has seven stations that responsible for protecting 412 square miles, including Interstate 20, which divides the County in half. Over the past 5 years, Lee County's volunteer force has grown from 45 volunteers to 100 volunteers, but the department's funding has not increased at the same rate. They receive an average of 550 calls per year, with about 200 being brush fire calls and 100 involving structure fires. Lee County provides mutual aid to surrounding South Carolina counties.

Before receiving the grant, only 4 percent of Lee County's firefighters had their own SCBA facepieces and 25 percent had access to spare air cylinders. With the grant funds, now all of the volunteers have been equipped with their own facepieces and all have access to spare air cylinders. The percentage of volunteers equipped with PASS devices also increased from 25 percent to 37 percent with the help of the grant.

BEFORE The training room, before the grant-funded refurbishment.

AFTER A class is conducted in Lee County's refurbished training room.

With Interstate 20 stretching across their County, the members have to be prepared to deal with fuel spills resulting from truck accidents. Before receiving the grant, only 33 percent of their hazmat team members were equipped with encapsulated hazmat suits. The grant has made it possible for to purchase enough suits to properly outfit their entire hazmat team.

The Department also used grant funds to partially refurbish a training room at the headquarters in Bishopville. Lee County shares the training space with local police and EMS providers. "Prior to having the new training room, we had to use station bays to conduct trainings with the accompanying street noise," says Atkinson.

"The grant has made a big difference to our Department," Atkinson says. "We would not have been able to buy this equipment without it."

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