Fire District Two receives monies from USDA

By: CARISSA HEBERT

Managing Editor

Fire Chief Ted Demoruelle reported the district has been awarded a USDA grant, which he applied for three years earlier. He said the district should receive $60,000, and it can borrow the rest for a new truck. He would like to see the old tanker in Faubourg retired.

The board motioned to allow Demoruelle to get more details.

The chief gave a report on the recent shuttle certification in the district on April 1, which was held for rating purposes. He is still waiting word on how the district performed. He also reported hose testing was about to be completed, and then the pre-planning stage would begin.

The district responded to nine calls in April, and the city had 18 calls for a total of 27 calls. The city had six structure fires, one medical call, nine alarm activations, one vehicle fire and one service call. The district had three structure fires, three grass fires, one alarm activation, one extrication and one vehicle fire.

The board also gave the chief permission to advertise to get rid of the old tanker, which had been lent to the Mamou Fire Department, during that department’s time of need. Demoruelle would check with the police jury for the title, so he could begin the process of advertising it.

The board agreed to purchase several pagers and split the cost with the Ville Platte volunteers. Chataignier also will purchase pagers. Demoruelle said he was receiving excellent response from the newer volunteers. He commended everyone on their commitment to the department.

In finances, Danny McDaniel said the district had $207,721 in its general fund, $53,247 in its payroll fund, $9,000 in savings and $10,000 in its sinking fund.

Space for a new truck for the district, which will be housed in the city, was discussed. Demoruelle said he had spoken to the mayor about changing one of the doors at the central station, which he believed would provide enough room for a new truck. He said the mayor had no problem with it if it would better fire service.

The next meeting will be June 10.