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Tavares fire division wins FEMA grant to build mobile fire-safety trailer
Summary
Division Chief Mike Willis told the board the department secured a FEMA grant (with a small local match) to buy and outfit a 27- to 30-foot fire-safety trailer for community education; construction is expected to take about 10 months and staff will demonstrate the trailer when completed.
Mike Willis, division chief of life safety, told the Tavares Planning & Zoning Board on Oct. 16 that the department obtained federal grant funding to build a mobile fire-safety prevention trailer designed for community outreach and training.
Willis said the department received $270,000 to fund a customized 27-to-30-foot trailer; the award required a 5% local match. He described the trailer—s training features, including simulated kitchen and household fire scenarios controlled with tablet technology, and emphasized the trailer—s accessibility: "If I go to school and there's child in the wheelchair, I can still... teach a child how to use a fire extinguisher," Willis said.
The trailer will include TV displays for severe-weather and tornado warnings and can be taken to neighborhoods and schools for hands-on demonstrations. Willis said build-out is roughly a 10-month timeline and that he plans to park the trailer outside a future meeting to give board members and the public a walkthrough.
Willis framed the grant work as fiscally responsible, noting the department seeks outside dollars to expand local safety programming. The board recognized the department—s success in securing grant funds and welcomed a demonstration when the trailer is complete.
