GARFIELD -- A fundraising effort has begun to purchase a fire boat for Northeast Benton County Volunteer Fire Department, one of the largest rural fire departments in Benton County, if not the state. The department covers an area totaling 84 square miles and stretches from Beaver Lake north to the Missouri state line and from Rogers east to the Carroll County line. There is very little municipal water in the area.
Now, NEBCO needs to raise about $340,000 to buy a boat for firefighting and water rescue.
Fire Chief Rob Taylor told area residents one of the problems area residents face is a lack of fire hydrants, one aspect used to determine home owner insurance rates. With a fire boat that can pump water from Beaver Lake, the rates are decreased. NEBCO has used a boat for the past 20 years that, because of its age, is no longer feasible to repair.
At the last Insurance Services Offices inspection, thanks to five fire stations and multiple trucks and the old fire boat, the ISO rating decreased from a 7 to a 5 resulting in a decrease in homeowner's insurance rates of $200-$600 a year.
Each residence in the area is within five road miles of a station, Taylor said. There is also a boat dock in Lost Bridge Village where both fire-rescue boats are docked. NEBCO has five fire engines, five tender trucks, one ladder truck, one rescue truck, three brush trucks, one big fire boat currently out of service and a small rescue boat. There are two advanced life support ambulances. There are 28 volunteer firefighters on the rolls.
"If you live out at Ventris, Garnett is close to a hydrant, but that's probably the closest there will be one in my lifetime," Taylor said, adding that a fire boat with a pump can dock near a residence and refill the tanks on trucks to bring a source of water close to any residence near the lake.
"If you think about the mileage, how far the trucks have to drive to get water when your house is on fire, it's important," Taylor said. "You don't know the sickening feeling when you're succeeding in extinguishing a fire and all of a sudden your hose goes empty."
"The need for this equipment is for quick response for our residents and requirements by ISO," Taylor said. "Each of these stations are required to have a fire engine and tender truck in them for the department to continue to have the Class 5 rating currently held."
NEBCO was one of the first fire departments in the state of Arkansas to have a fire boat, Taylor said. The boat the department has used since 1996 was 20 years old when they got it and it is now mechanically inoperable.
"We need a bigger boat that gives more access for equipment and more function-able for fire and rescue," he said.
The previous boat came from the U.S. Coast Guard through the Arkansas Forestry Service. NEBCO still has a small boat, also from the Forestry Service, but it doesn't provide water.
With the old boat, there was not a good way to access getting patients out of the water, Taylor said. The design of the new boat provides that as well as the ability to pump water from the lake to fight a fire. He said it will have a 1,500 gallons per minute pump.
"It's just like a fire truck on the water," Taylor said.
Taylor said he hopes to receive grants and donations to purchase the boat.
"NEBCO has been proud to serve our community since 1978 and in that time we have seen a lot of changes and growth," Fire Chief Rob Taylor said. "With so much of our NEBCO service area being on and around Beaver Lake, we began to see the need for a boat with firefighting capabilities. Since acquiring our fire boat in 1996, there have been many emergencies in which the use of our fire boat was necessary. The fire boat is used for operations such as boat fires, dock and marina fires, water rescues, medical emergencies as well as supplying water for house fires in certain areas that do not have public water or fire hydrants.
"The NEBCO fire boat will be a benefit to the residents and anyone who visits Beaver Lake north of the Arkansas Highway 12 bridge," he said, adding that the fire boat will continue to be an asset to six fire departments, two sheriff's departments, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Benton County Dive team.
"These are just a few facts that demonstrate how crucial the fire boat is to NEBCO in keeping our commitment to our service area. We have been blessed in the past to receive so much support from our community that we have been able to improve our equipment as well as our facilities without significant increase in fire dues. Your strong support has enabled us to offer advanced emergency responses to our service area," Kara Funk, NEBCO Board of Directors chairman, said.
"We encourage everyone to find out how you can help us reach our goal of $347,214.00 for the purchase of a new boat. As you can see from the thermometer, we have some work to do. Thank you for your continued support," Funk said.
General News on 08/03/2016