Helmets are without a doubt one of the most essential parts of a fireman's
uniform, but they're also very costly--about $300 each. That's especially a
high price to pay for volunteer fire departments, which only have limited
budgets.
Caton's Chapel - Richardson Cove's Assistant Fire Chief Matt Lovitt said,
"We have about 30 members on our fire department and with that you're
looking at a large chunk of money. Our annual operating budget is about $50,000
a year. So in order to equip our people and keep fuel in the trucks and the
lights on in the base we have to have operating funds."
The Caton's Chapel - Richardson Cove Volunteer Fire Department entered a
Facebook competition sponsored by "Phenix Fire Helmets", in which the
public has until March 1st to vote on the best picture submitted by a fire
department. As a way of celebrating its 40th year in business, Phenix
Technology is giving away 40 NFPA compliant firefighter helmets to a department
in need.
After the March 1st deadline, Assistant Chief Lovitt said the top ten
pictures will then be judged by the National Firefighters Endowment and Phenix
Fire Helmets and a winner will be selected. The announcement of the winner is
expected to be made on April 25th.
The National Firefighters Endowment and Phenix Fire Helmets will choose 10
departments to evaluate with the winner being announced at Phenix
Technology booth 4143 on April 25, during FDIC 2013.
Caton's Chapel - Richardson Cove Volunteer Fire Department submitted a
picture showing a few of the firefighters fighting last spring's English
Mountain fire.
To vote for their picture click here
and then scroll down until you see the picture submitted by the Caton's Chapel
- Richardson Cove Volunteer Fire Department.