TRACI HASTINGS
The Chronicle, Willimantic, Conn.
(TNS)
SCOTLAND — The Scotland Volunteer Fire Department will open its doors to the public this Saturday.
An Open House will be held at the Scotland Public Safety Complex from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Visitors will have the chance to meet Smokey the Bear while learning about fire safety, and take tours of the fire station, which was recently upgraded through grants from Lowe’s Hometowns, an initiative from the home improvement retailer.
Earlier this year, Scotland’s department received $30,000 for the construction of bunkrooms and an office and the renovation of the kitchen. Another $2,500 in grant funding came from the local Lisbon branch of the store through its Heroes program, which contributed miscellaneous items to bring the project toward completion. Sherwin-Williams, the paint manufacturing company, donated paint, which volunteers from Lisbon Lowes applied to the interior of the station in August as part of its community service outreach program.
“The Lowes renovation has been completed,” Scotland Deputy Chief Michael Gurnack said. “They came out great.”
“We are putting on some finishing touches,” Chief Jason Beaumont added.
The department was founded din 1947 and the current station was built in 1999.
Scotland’s first responders received more funding through a community grant from utility company Eversource. The department used the funds to purchase carbon monoxide detectors, fire extinguishers and reflective address numbers. All of these will be distributed to Scotland residnts at the event.
“We will be handing them out to our town residents, one per household, while supplies last,” Gurnack said.
The reflective address numbers can be added to posts at the end of a driveway or on a mailbox post to help guide emergency responders to the right place in the event of a crisis.
Also at the event will be representatives from the Connecticut State Police K9 Unit, and from LifeStar, the critical-care helicopter service based at Hartford HealthCare’s Backus Hospital in Norwich. The helicopter will land at the station at approximately 2 p.m., if possible.
There will also be a drone demonstration, an inflatable bounce house for children and raffles, with a chance to win a DuroMax Power Equipment generator from Accurate Power LLC. Refreshments will be available.
The public safety complex is located at 47 Brook Road.
___
(c)2024 The Chronicle (Willimantic, Conn.)
Visit The Chronicle (Willimantic, Conn.) at www.thechronicle.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Scotland receives new radios thanks to AFG grant
We are pleased to announce that we were recently notified that our request for an Assistance for Firefighters Grant (AFG) has been accepted, the department said in a Facebook post. This grant was regional effort by the following fire departments:
• Baltic Fire Department
• Canterbury Fire Department
• Chaplin Fire Department
• Hampton Fire Department
• Scotland Fire Department
The funding awarded in this grant will be used to purchase much-needed dual-band portable radios for each department. The new radios will replace equipment that is nearly 20-years old. The technology in the new radios will allow for better communication within each department and interoperability between mutual aid agencies throughout our region.
We would like to thank Representative Joseph Courtney and Senators Blumenthal and Murphy for their support of our efforts in obtaining this grant funding.
In continuing efforts to keep our responders safe and to serve the citizens of our districts, we look forward to placing these state-of-the art radios in service in the near future.
The SVFD was also recently notified that we have been awarded and accepted an Assistance for Firefighters Grant (AFG) to replace our aging self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). The SVFD was awarded a similar grant in the early two thousands to replace our dated equipment.
Over the last several years the SVFD has been able to extend the life of our current SCBAs by purchasing used air bottles from area departments. Being awarded these grants will help progress the SVFD into the future and help protect our members with the most state-of-the art equipment.
