By By GREG KATSKI
Community Editor
The Belhaven Volunteer Fire Department used a $17,191.92 matching grant from the state to help buy six sets of firefighting gear, 12 helmets, an accountability system, traffic signs, pagers, program kits for the pagers, portable and mobile radios, flashlights and laptop computers, according to Jimmy Davis, chief of the department.
The department received the state grant through the 2009 Volunteer Fire Department Fund.
Former Chief Derrick Myers applied for and had the grant approved last year before the department purchased the equipment for $34,383.84.
Davis said Myers had not submitted all the necessary documentation to the state in order for the department to be partially reimbursed when Myers was stripped of his title by the Belhaven Town Council in mid-November.
“We had to provide serial numbers for the equipment,” Davis said.
The N.C. General Assembly created the Volunteer Fire Department Fund in 1988 to help volunteer units raise money for equipment and supplies, according to a release from the Office of State Fire Marshal.
“I know the Belhaven Fire &Rescue Department will use this money to serve their community even better,” Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin, who’s also the state fire marshal, said in a news release.
Goodwin also thanked Myers for his work at the helm of the department.
“Thank you, Chief Derrick Myers, for all of your hard work and thanks to your dedicated staff,” he said.
The Belhaven department has received $114,440.68 from the Volunteer Fire Department Fund in the past 23 years. Since the program’s inception, the Department of Insurance has distributed more than $65 million to volunteer fire departments across the state, according to the release.
The department also is looking to add a ladder truck at little or no cost to the department, Davis said.
Through the efforts of the N.C Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Division of Forest Resources and U.S. Department of Defense, volunteer fire departments in Windsor and Edenton have been given ladder trucks within the past year, Davis said.
“I have been able to find out that ladder trucks are available. They come off of military bases,” he said.
Davis said he’s contacted the Division of Forest Resources about Belhaven receiving a ladder truck.
“We’ve got our name on the list,” he said. “There’s a very good chance we’ll have an aerial device.”
“These kinds of opportunities are few and far between,” Davis added.
Davis said the department is in need of a ladder truck because of the rising number of multi-level condominiums and raised houses in town.
“This is a usable piece of equipment for Belhaven,” he said.