TIFTON — Tift County’s Fire and Rescue department is hoping to secure new equipment with the aid of the county board of commissioners and several grants.

County commissioners unanimously agreed to submit applications to four grant programs on behalf of the county fire and rescue department at their Nov. 13 meeting.

The county will apply to Georgia Arson Control, the Georgia Forestry Commission, Norfolk Southern, and the Georgia Trauma Commission. Fire chief Joey Fowler explained that these grants will help the Tift Fire and Rescue secure much needed equipment.

From the Forestry Commission’s Volunteer Fire Assistance grant, the fire department is requesting the purchase of a set of six-inch floating strainers for drafting operations and two four-inch storz connections to attach large-diameter fire hoses to portable water tanks. This grant will require the county to match the $4056 funding with half of that amount, but Fowler asserted the application had been budgeted.

The Norfolk Southern Safety First grant would help the county obtain three four gas monitors, two single gas monitors, and thermal image cameras, and would not require the county to match the funding in any way.

Fowler explained that the Georgia Trauma Commission would be providing them funds through their annual allocation of money to 911 Zone provider of each county, based on the number of licensed ambulances they operate. With eight such vehicles, they would receive a total of $5962.51, which Fowler hopes to put toward installing a Stryker stair chair on one of their front-run trucks.

The remainder of that funding, he reported, would be used to offset the expense of upgrading the department’s iPads, which had been done earlier in the year.

Lastly, Fowler was proud to report that the department had already received the equipment they had requested, $500 worth of a camera, external flash, and batteries to better investigate fire scenes, from Georgia Arson Control, all without needing the county to match the funding.