Lorena Volunteer Fire Department awarded $10,000 for new equipment

LORENA, Texas (KWTX) - This afternoon the Lorena Volunteer Fire Department held their annual Christmas in the Country fundraiser, raising money for the department.

However this year they were also awarded a $10,000 check from the National Volunteer Fire Council, or NVFC.

Chief Derek Roper explains that while they do get some city and county funding, their department is run primarily through donations.

With this money he says they were able to buy equipment that would normally be hard to come by.

“This money was used to purchase rescue equipment for downed firefighters, something our fire department has never had before so it’s a major upgrade for our department,” Roper explained, “we also purchased air quality monitors that we can use for different call types within our department, and that again is something we’ve never had before”.

He adds that the rescue equipment is approximately $6,000 and the air quality monitors $2,000 a piece, buying two for a total of $4,000.

The Lorena VFD was one of 150 total departments awarded this grant as part of the Good Neighbor Firefighter Safety Program, a partnership between the NVFC and State Farm.

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