Rapid City Fire Department officials are seeking nearly $123,000 in grant funding for fire prevention measures at Pennington County's public housing facilities located in the city and for training in hazardous materials.
Fire Chief Jason Culberson told the Rapid City Legal and Finance Committee Wednesday the department would like to apply for $81,500 from the federal government's Fire Prevention and Safety Grant to install heat-limiting cooktops in the Pennington County Housing and Redevelopment Commission’s multifamily units — all of which are located within the Rapid City limits and in the Rapid City Fire Department's jurisdiction.
Culberson said the fire department responds to at least one fire alarm monthly at public housing units, and many of those calls are because the electric burners on stoves get too hot — causing the potential for fire. He said the heat-limiting cooktop elements would alleviate many of those calls.
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"It replaces that piece and limits the heat that can be generated from there. So it all but eliminates cooking-type fires," Culberson said. "They won't allow the oil to get hot enough to ignite, or quite potentially, not even allow paper to ignite from that cooktop. It limits the heat and decreases the amount of fires we have."
Culberson said Pennington County public housing is not retrofitted with sprinkler systems. Installing the reduced-heat electric stove coils would be a way for the department to help eliminate the potential for fires in those facilities.
The fire department is also seeking a $41,144 grant award from the Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness program to fund two separate training classes, attendance to a conference focused on hazardous materials, and a 55-gallon drum training prop. Culberson said if the grant is awarded, there would be a 20% local matching requirement to receive the funding.
"We're going to do a course for those guys and put it together. The grant is to help us provide that course and purchase a prop at the same time," he said. "There is matching to that, but we'll use the wages from our hazardous materials training budget to do that."
The Legal and Finance Committee unanimously approved a recommendation to allow the Mayor's Office and the City Finance Office to apply for and accept the two grants. The matters will be heard by the full city council during their 6:30 p.m. Monday meeting.
