Excelsior Fire District Receives State Training Grant

The received a grant in the amount of $4,786.95 to pay for Firefighter I, Firefighter II, HazMat operations training, fire officers skills in fire operations and supervisory skill training, Excelsior Fire Chief Scott Gerber announced recently.

The grant was awarded to the local department by the Minnesota Board of Firefighter Training and Education (MBFTE), a board created by the state legislature and funded by insurance premiums paid by Minnesota homeowners.

“These training dollars also provided our district live fire training for our firefighters in order to maintain and enhance our fire suppression, search and rescue and ventilation skills,” Chief Gerber stated.

The future of the Fire Safety Account and future training dollars for local governments throughout Minnesota are in jeopardy. In recent years, the State Legislature has failed to appropriate the funds in the dedicated Fire Safety Account and used the money to balance the budget. This account is funded by individual and commercial insurance premiums.

Legislators are being reminded and encouraged to use the funds collected from these premiums only for the purposes defined by law. Appropriate uses of these funds include firefighter training and funding the State Fire Marshal’s office that inspects daycare centers, senior living facilities, investigates arsons, etc. The State Fire Marshal budget relies on the Fire Safety Account to totally fund their operations.

Since its creation, the Minnesota Board of Firefighter Training and Education has provided three rounds of grants to Minnesota fire departments. The first round was in January 2009 and provided $838,629 in training dollars. The second round in August 2009 provided $1,180,000, and the third round in May 2010 provided $2,130,000 in training dollars. The most recent round of grants in September, 2011 provided $2,083,000 to fire departments.

The Fire District received grants in the first round of $3,468, in round 2, $4,000, in round 3, $9,300 and in round 4, $4,786.95, for a total of $21,554.95 from the Minnesota Board of Firefighter Training and Education, Chief Gerber noted.

When asked if they could have done the training without the MBFTE grant program Chief Gerber replied, “We could not have done the amount or as in-depth of training without these funds. These funds are important to allow our fire district to continue to place high emphasis on training in times when budgets are tight for all communities. Emergency incidents happen less frequently, so training is even more important for proficiency. Training is a cornerstone to successful fire and emergency services.”