Mt. Morris Fire has been awarded the 2008 Fire Act Grant

The Mt. Morris Fire Protection District, Mt. Morris, IL has been awarded a 2008 Fire Act Grant by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency. The grant totals $126,000 dollars of which the District will be responsible for only $6,300. The grant will be used to replace all of the Districts communications equipment, pagers, hand held and apparatus radios. The Districts current radio equipment is comprised of various models of pagers and radios that have been purchased over many years, some of which are no longer serviceable. Each model has different features and operates differently. The Federal Government has set a date of 2011 for all emergency radio equipment to be digital capable. This is similar to the change that is occurring with television currently. This grant will allow the District to replace all of its radio equipment with new digitally compliant communications equipment.  The District has been fortunate enough to receive multiple Fire Act Grants in the past. The 2004 award was to update the Districts breathing air compressor and breathing apparatus. The 2005 grant was to update the District’s Turnout Gear. The 2006 grant was for a back up emergency power generator for the firehouse. Adding in the 2008 grant the District has received a grand total of $324,683.00. The Mt. Morris Fire Protection District provides Fire Suppression, Technical Rescue and Paramedic Level Emergency Medical Care to its District. The District is located 100 miles directly west of Chicago in the rural farmland of Northern Illinois. The District serves the village of Mt. Morris with its 3100 residents. The remainder of the District encompasses the five townships of Mt. Morris, Pine Creek, Lincoln, Rockvale and Oregon-Nashua. The District serves a total of 45 square miles with a total population of 5,000.