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The Commonwealth Regional Council (CRC) is working to help The Drakes Branch and Keysville Volunteer Fire Departments obtain firefighting apparatus through several grants.

The Keysville Volunteer Fire Department (KVFD) has applied for close to $1 million in a FEMA Assistance grant to help purchase a ladder truck that will be accessible to all Charlotte County fire departments, according to KVFD Chief Lynn Duffey.

Currently, no departments in the county have a ladder truck.

“We have a number of buildings in the county that we can’t get to if there was a fire,” Duffey said. “There is the college, several buildings in the industrial park and the new courthouse that we would need a ladder truck if there were a fire.”

According to Duffey, it could be this fall before the department learns if they will receive the grant.

The Drakes Branch Volunteer Fire Department (DBVFD) has applied for a $26,020 First Responder Grant through the Gary Sinise Foundation to help obtain a new thermal imaging camera and two self-contained breathing apparatuses.

“Our thermal imaging camera we have now is almost 20 years old,” DBVFD member Noah Davis said. “This is necessary because we use the camera to detect heat in walls and ceilings, etc.”

According to CRC Deputy Director Todd Fortune, it is uncertain as to when DBVFD will learn if their grant has been awarded.
“As I understand it, the foundation considers requests as they come in,” Fortune said.