Independence Township Fire Department, and 15 other departments in the Southeast Michigan region will be able to communicate through video conferencing.
‘This was truly a regional application for a grant. There were 16 departments that put in for this as a regional training group and that’s how we got it, we were included with a lot of other departments,? said Fire Chief Steve Ronk. ‘Farmington Hills put it out there and said ‘are you interested???
The fire department has to pay $17,885.58, which is 20 percent of the total $71, 427.88.
‘It wasn’t something we had to have on the table that we were going to do it anyway,? said Ronk. ‘If that grant would not have come through we wouldn’t be doing this.?
Ronk said the grant is through ‘The Assistant to Firefighter Grant,? which has many grants that can be applied for, but this is the first one Independence has been able to get.
‘We usually never get it because of our community status, our population, and our budget,? he said. ‘Which is good it goes to the people that are somewhat deprived.?
The video conferencing will be linked to all 16 sites with the capability to interact with each one with two way conferencing, but the benefit for Independence is that all three stations will be linked together.
‘We’ll be able to run some training without having to move people,? Ronk said. ‘When it’s a foot of snow, its 10 degrees whatever, some of the training can be done through video.?
The video conferencing isn’t meant to make every department look the same or do the same thing, he noted, but it’s ‘an attempt? to do some regional training, which currently is not done among the departments.
‘We really got a lot of capabilities for the amount we are spending,? said Ronk. ‘I think it’s worthy what we’re paying.?