Jeannette, Tarentum, Sutersville among those getting funds for emergency vehicles

Jeannette EMS is buying two new ambulances and the Sutersville Volunteer Fire Department is adding a fire truck to its fleet as a result of receiving federal grants and loans, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.

Tarentum was awarded a $33,700 economic impact initiative grant to buy a new Ford SUV for its police department.

It was ordered through the state’s cooperative purchasing program and is to be built March 14, Chief William S. Vakulick said. The new hybrid police vehicle will replace its 2016 Explorer.

Because of the supply chain disruptions, “we have no clue when we will get it here. The last one took eight months,” Vakulick said.

Jeannette’s two vehicles should be ready for use by April, said Randy Highlands, the EMS company’s director of operations. The vehicles will replace two 2006 ambulances, Highlands said.

The USDA Rural Development bureau’s community facilities program of grants and loans is providing $228,000 in federal funds, a $100,000 grant and $128,500 low-interest loan, Highlands said.

The Sutersville fire department’s new pumper-rescue truck is being equipped at Sutphen Corp.’s firetruck manufacturing plant in Urbana, Ohio, said Mark Ghion, Sutersville fire chief. To buy the vehicle, the department was awarded an $87,700 low-interest loan and $100,000 economic impact incentive grant in addition to a $400,000 grant it previously received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Ghion said.

The new truck, which will be equipped with hose and a hydraulic metal spreader to be used on vehicles, will replace an old truck that likely will be scrapped, Ghion said.

Ghion said he was not certain of the delivery date because of the supply chain problems that exist nationwide.

“It’s terrible getting anything,” Ghion said.

The department has been seeking funding for the new vehicle for close to 20 years, Ghion said, but previous applications were denied. A successful application is based, in part, on the age of the fire department’s vehicles, Ghion said.

The Fayette Emergency Medical Service received $490,000 in a low-interest loan and grant to buy 19 new monitor and defibrillator combinations with associated equipment.

Brownsville Ambulance Service Inc. received $110,500 in a loan and grant to buy a 2020 ambulance and associated equipment.

The money allocated to area emergency responders is part of more than $16 million earmarked for 30 rural community facility projects and equipment in Pennsylvania.