Rifle raffle yields fire equipment

The Cloverdale Volunteer Fire Fighters Association presented the district's board of directors with thousands of dollars worth of new equipment at the district board meeting on Wednesday, October 16. The equipment included rescue stabilization struts, scene lighting, and back-up cameras for six trucks.

At this year's rodeo the volunteers raffled off a rifle and scope combination that raised nearly $10,000. The volunteers obtained the rifle through a donation from Cloverdale Fence Company, and the rifle scope through a donation from Leupold & Stevens.

The volunteers used these funds to purchase stabilization struts purchased from Rescue 42, a Chico, California company. The struts are used to support cars or other heavy objects, so that rescuers can remove trapped victims without having the car or object move and further injure the trapped victim or the rescuers.

According to the fire district, this particular brand was purchased not only because it is an excellent product, but because it allows for easy inter-operability with surrounding fire agencies such as Sisters Camp-Sherman and Bend fire districts, which use the same rescue strut. The set of two struts and ancillary equipment cost the volunteers in the neighborhood of $3,000.

The volunteers also purchased three large pole-mounted LED scene lights to the tune of approximately $3,200. These will be mounted on three of the district's trucks that do not have adequate area lighting for night operations. Each light emits 14,000 lumens of white light, using power from the trucks' standard electrical system.

The volunteers have also purchased six backup cameras for trucks that are regularly operated with one person and have restricted rear visibility. The cameras allow the driver to see directly behind the truck, when a second person is not available to guide the driver while backing. Costs for the backup cameras run approximately $2,000.

The volunteers have used the remaining funds from the raffle to purchase medical supplies for the district.

Clinton Weaver, president of the Cloverdale Volunteer Firefighters Association, says that the volunteers "would like to say a hearty thank-you to all of the people who have donated to the volunteers' fundraisers this year that have made these purchases possible. We run a couple of fundraisers each year, and direct the funds in a variety of directions. This year, we had several extra equipment needs that the district could not fulfill, and were able to supply them all."