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South Jacksonville fire department reports 49 June calls, awarded $5,000 pager grant
Summary
Fire Chief Rich Evans told trustees the department handled 49 calls in June — including tornado responses — and won a $5,000 Norfolk Southern Safety First grant that purchased eight pagers; chiefs also discussed upgrading generator capacity for prolonged outages.
Fire Chief Rich Evans told the Village of South Jacksonville board that the fire department logged 49 calls for service in June, with a significant number tied to a tornado that passed through the area and downed lines near the funeral home. "They had 49 calls for service for the month of June," Evans said, adding that the storm and its aftermath accounted for a large share of that activity.
Evans said the department applied for a $15,000 Norfolk Southern Safety First grant and "last week, they were awarded $5k which will go towards pagers," enabling the purchase of eight pagers to improve crew notifications. Trustees and staff discussed follow-up steps to finalize equipment delivery and placement. President Richard Samples said the chiefs would coordinate with Treasurer Mindy Olson and the police department to check on related federal funding and other reimbursements.
The department and police also raised emergency-power concerns: chiefs described limits of the existing generator at the fire station and plans to upgrade capacity so a unit could run continuously or be moved to Village Hall if needed. The board did not adopt a procurement plan during the meeting but flagged the generator issue as a priority for upcoming budget or grant work.
