Dolph Diemont, federal coordinating officer for FEMA, presents local Fire Chief John Buchanan with a $408,438 check that will be used to replace aging radios.

Siuslaw Valley Fire & Rescue has landed a number of grants for new radios, a new tower and other communications improvements.

Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) were in Florence Thursday, March 19, to present a check for $408,438 to the Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue (SVF&R).

Dolph Diemont, federal coordinating officer for FEMA, presented SVF&R Chief John Buchanan the check as part of an Assistance to Firefighters grant. The funds will be used to replace aging analog radios with digital radios for SVF&R, the Mapleton Fire District, Swisshome-Deadwood Fire District and Western Lane Ambulance District.

Diemont praised Buchanan and the SVF&R for their initiative in securing a grant that Diemont said was much larger than the average fire grant.

“It says alot about this fire department to be able to leverage and to make use of these funds,” said Diemont.

According to Diemont, the grant was established after 9/11 to help ensure firefighters have the basic tools and resources necessary to safely perform their duties.

“Our nation’s firefighters are the first responders in almost every emergency,” said Dennis Hunsinger, acting regional administrator for FEMA Region 10. “The Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program represents a major effort by the federal government to ensure that the nation’s firefighters continue to have the basic capability they need to do their jobs, improve safety and save lives.”

Diemont said it was an honor to present the check and that Chief Buchanan’s reputation in the state is well known.

SVF&R board member Rob Ward said that he was impressed with Buchanan and his staff and that the grant funds go beyond the SVF&R district.

“This grant will go a long way in helping communication in other districts beyond Siuslaw Valley,” said Ward.

Buchanan credited Deputy Chief Marvin Tipler and Battalion Chief Sean Barrett along with the Lane Council of Governments for their work in securing the grant.

In addition to the Assistance to Firefighters grant, three other grants has been awarded to SVF&R. All focus on improving emergency communications and operations in western Lane County.

An $83,000 grant was awarded for equipment for both the 9-1-1 dispatch center and the Herman Peak Transmitter site along with an additional $431,585 to replace the aging communications tower on Herman Peak with a new 180-foot free-standing radio tower, construct a new communications equipment building and purchase an emergency generator.

The new tower project will improve communications for the Florence Police Department, Western Lane Ambulance District, Confederated Tribes Police Department, Mapleton Fire District, Swisshome-Deadwood Fire District, and SVF&R.

Chief Buchanan said that the grants not only help with emergency communications, but the buying of equipment also helps keep people working.

“The grants are out there,” said Diemont. “Agencies just have to follow through.”

“Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue is a model of how the system should work.”