Commissioners approve two drones and fund county extrication training

Marshall County commissioners on Aug. 4 approved payment for two drones for the fire department at an updated price of $19,000 each after the department said additional requested options (thermal imaging, loudspeaker and larger display) were missing from an earlier quote. The commissioners also approved up to $2,000 from a public-safety grant to host an extrication training day for county fire departments.

John Willett and Assistant Chief (Chewy) Garcia presented the updated drone quotes. Garcia said the original request of about $18,800 per drone increased to $19,000 because the vendor omitted the thermal camera, loudspeaker and larger display in the earlier quote. Commissioners voted to approve the $19,000 per-drone purchase.

Assistant Chief Garcia also requested county support to host a hands-on extrication class on Oct. 4 that will include about 16 cars and one school bus for practice; McQueen Services is donating instructors and some equipment, and departments will send four to five people each. Garcia asked the board to cover up to $2,000 for the event from the public-safety grant program; commissioners approved the request and asked organizers to keep sign-in sheets to track participation for grant reporting.

The meeting also included remarks about developing a memorandum of understanding among departments for drone and extrication mutual aid and an update on recent green-bin agricultural trainings for first responders. Commissioners requested that organizers track participant numbers for future grant needs.