By Aaron Michell
Recently, a big anonymous donation to fund brand-new equipment and supplies was given to a number of Marion area departments and organizations. The Village of Marion, the Marion Fire Department, Osceola County Sheriff’s Dept., and local townships were the beneficiaries of the new supplies and equipment.
The Village of Marion received [and is due to receive] 12 new steel picnic tables along with a camera security system for the village park. The Marion Fire Department received new gas monitors, a thermal camera kit, and exercise equipment for the firehall gym. The sheriff’s department also received exercise equipment. AEDs [Automated External Defibrillator] were provided to each township in the local fire district [Marion, Highland, Winterfield, Hartwick, and Middle Branch]. The village and fire department also received AEDs. All told, the anonymous donor funded $40,000 worth of equipment and supplies.
The fire department was able to purchase a number of items, and Captain Bruce Tower couldn’t be more grateful.
“We really appreciate everybody’s support, and anytime we have individuals that like to donate and help out to better serve our community, we’re always grateful for anything, any funding, any equipment,” Tower said. “This anonymous donation helped us greatly enhance where we’re at. Now the smaller items were able to be purchased so it will enhance our fire department greatly – and we thank you [the anonymous donor] for that.”
Tower discussed the importance of the new equipment and how it will help local firefighters remain safe.
“The gas detectors, they’ll tell us what the level of hazardous material gases is, hydrogen sulfide gas, CO2 level and the oxygen level at scenes,” Tower said. “These new ones will give us the chance where guys can wear these when they go into a situation to verify the levels of these gases, and make sure they’re in the safety area.”
“The thermal camera that we have now is an older version, and it’s only black and white,” Tower continued. “The new one will show us color changes in there – the higher the temperature; it goes yellow, to orange, to bright red – so we’ll know there’s a lot of heat in there when we have to enter a house. It will even read where I was walking on my carpet. It’s very accurate. That camera also records up to 600 minutes of fire time if we’re in a structure or we’re looking. We can take it back and plug it into our computer and use for training at the fire hall.”
Public Works Superintendent Derek Wing was grateful for the donation as well. Wing talked about some of the specific items and how they’ll benefit the community.
“The village board had discussed cameras in the park, and just didn’t have any funding means to acquire them,” Wing said. “When this opportunity came about, they decided it would be a good opportunity to keep an eye on the pavilions and campground to keep an eye on what’s going on there, and to deter mischief.”
Along with the new security system, the park is getting new picnic tables that are low-maintenance and aesthetically pleasing.
“A lot of our picnic tables are getting dilapidated and need repair,” Wing said. “These are commercial, high quality picnic tables with a lot of longevity. They’re maintenance free; they’re heavy duty – so they should last the village years and years to come, without any maintenance on them. They’re made of steel, so they won’t rot.”
Wing also mentioned the importance of getting AEDs to the buildings where they may be needed in case of an emergency.
“The townships have never had AEDs, the village hall has never had an AED,” Wing said. “In a CPR life-saving event, that’s your best chance of reviving somebody who’s went into cardiac arrest.”
Osceola County Undersheriff Jed Avery said that physical health is one of the most important aspects of the job, and with the donation towards exercise equipment, the sheriff’s department will be better prepared for the job.
“A vital part of being a police officer is physical health,” Avery said. “With the fire department and law enforcement, the number one killer would be cardiac arrest. What we’re hoping to do is combat that a little bit, and get in better shape.”
Avery personally has seen the on-the-job role that cardio endurance can play.
“I’ve been in a scuffle before, and the guy was pulling my leg underneath him, and I had my gun on my ankle at the time, and when he grabbed my gun I don’t think he realized what it was,” Avery said. “It was one of those moments where he’s struggling, I’m struggling. He stops to rest, I stop to rest. Just constant, until my backup showed up. It felt like a lifetime to me. It was probably 5 minutes. We just want to increase our odds of survival; increase our odds of safety. Make sure that our guys are physically taken care of, and if they feel good while they’re working, it will project in their productivity while they’re working.”
Avery wanted to give a shout-out to the anonymous donor, whoever that may be.
“I don’t know who they are, but a huge thank you from the sheriff and I. I don’t think you realize how impactful, and how many lives this is going to impact. I know people think this is just exercise equipment, but this is really going to change people’s lives here.”
Local firefighters Megan Ashby and Ashley and Jon Barron are already making use of the new exercise equipment at the firehall. They’re all extremely thankful for the new equipment.
“We really appreciate it, and the opportunity to use this equipment and this space to work out,” Ashley said. “In medical, we have to lift a lot; some of those medical calls can be physically intense.”
Ashby concurred.
“[This will] keep us strong for the calls,” Ashby said. “We do a lot of running back and forth from the house to the truck to get supplies.”
At the end of the day, the community, and the local departments hope to become safer, healthier, and nicer, due to the donation.
“I think it was an amazing gift to the townships, the village, local law enforcement, the fire department…” Wing said. “I think there were a lot of people, through this donation, who were able to get the needed equipment to make our community safer and nicer.”
