It's been referred to as the worst fire season in Texas history.
"We have a lot of costs that were associated with that that are still carrying over," said Greg Young fire chief of the Elm Creek Citizens Assoc.(E.C.C.A) Volunteer Fire Dept. and also the chairman for the Taylor Co. Rural Firefighter Committee (T.C.R.F.C.)
Volunteer firefighters from around Taylor Co. are still recovering from last summer.
Many lost the few trucks they had.
Even more crucial- some even lost half of their manpower.
"Believe it or not there are certain costs involved in volunteering either from time off work , fuel that you may spend, you know there are just a number of associated costs that go with that," said Young.
Now stations like Jim Ned and E.C.C.A need hundreds of thousands of dollars to meet those needs.
There are numerous grants they can apply for, however, not all of them qualify.
"Were going to try to find some of the smaller little grants around and see if we cant combine them," said Bob Eisenberg, fire chief for the Jim Ned VFD.
One of the main concerns, lack of space.
Firefighters literally have to step outside in order to get into the firetrucks at stations like Jim Ned who are seeking grants to build a new fire station.
"Its hard to work on the trucks inside we've got to pull them outside to work, the heat's terrible, winter time is terrible, but you just have to do what you do," said Eisenburg.
Most of their calls aren't even for fires.
"We make way more medical calls than we ever do in fires," said Young.
Times have changed for many of the stations- and now they're in dire need of finding the ways and means to adapt.
Especially as they look forward to another dry fire season.
"These are our communities, this is where we live," said Young.
Members of the T.C.R.F.C have gone before county commissioners to express their needs and ask for more funds in anticipation of the latest fiscal year budget.
"We have a lot of costs that were associated with that that are still carrying over," said Greg Young fire chief of the Elm Creek Citizens Assoc.(E.C.C.A) Volunteer Fire Dept. and also the chairman for the Taylor Co. Rural Firefighter Committee (T.C.R.F.C.)
Volunteer firefighters from around Taylor Co. are still recovering from last summer.
Many lost the few trucks they had.
Even more crucial- some even lost half of their manpower.
"Believe it or not there are certain costs involved in volunteering either from time off work , fuel that you may spend, you know there are just a number of associated costs that go with that," said Young.
Now stations like Jim Ned and E.C.C.A need hundreds of thousands of dollars to meet those needs.
There are numerous grants they can apply for, however, not all of them qualify.
"Were going to try to find some of the smaller little grants around and see if we cant combine them," said Bob Eisenberg, fire chief for the Jim Ned VFD.
One of the main concerns, lack of space.
Firefighters literally have to step outside in order to get into the firetrucks at stations like Jim Ned who are seeking grants to build a new fire station.
"Its hard to work on the trucks inside we've got to pull them outside to work, the heat's terrible, winter time is terrible, but you just have to do what you do," said Eisenburg.
Most of their calls aren't even for fires.
"We make way more medical calls than we ever do in fires," said Young.
Times have changed for many of the stations- and now they're in dire need of finding the ways and means to adapt.
Especially as they look forward to another dry fire season.
"These are our communities, this is where we live," said Young.
Members of the T.C.R.F.C have gone before county commissioners to express their needs and ask for more funds in anticipation of the latest fiscal year budget.
