The Harmony Fire District hosted Congressman Mike Kelly yesterday to celebrate a $1.2 million grant that will go toward new equipment.
Kelly was at the Harmomy Fire District to present the check that will help purchase two new firetrucks.
“There are 435 people in the House of Representatives and 100 Senators competing for these dollars. These are the types of the projects we hallmark, and these are projects that the rest of the Congress looks and thinks this is money well spent,” Kelly said.
“The check we bring today is all taxpayer money,” Kelly said. “I always thought we should be thanking the people who put the money into the account, not the people who are in office.”
Harmony Fire Chief Rob Reeb says the new trucks will help save costs in the long run.
“When the maintenance issues start pulling money out of your budget, that’s where it hurts. The new trucks we ordered are not as computer oriented, which seems to be where the costs are going,” Reeb said. “These should be a lot easier to maintain and operate. Hopefully it will pull our maintenance costs down.”
The Harmony Fire District has now received $2.7 million in federal funding, which station president Kevin Behun says has helped with response times.
“Last week when we had a structure fire come in with our neighbors, we had eight people in the building to help respond on a Friday afternoon. The best thing we can do for a community is how quickly we can respond to a fire,” Behun said.
One new firetruck will arrive this summer; the other is expected by next spring.
