Lamont will seek grant for fire hoses

Lamont is seeking help to fight fires within town limits.

With new hydrants all over town and a new water system that puts out 82 pounds per inch of pressure, the only thing keeping Washington’s second-smallest town from top shelf urban firefighting is a lack of hoses.

“We have a million dollar-plus system that we’re trying to use and use effectively,” said Mayor Steve Lacey. “We have great hydrants, great pressure – the only thing we need is hoses.”

Whitman County Rural Fire District No. 5 provides Lamont with fire protection services. While the fire district is well-trained in extinguishing brush fires, it could use better equipment to speed the response to fires in town, Lacey said.

“Ninety-five percent of the fires around here are brush fires,” he said. “And these guys are obviously very good in what they do. We want to make sure they’ve got what they need to fight fires in a town setting.”

To do that, the town and the fire district decided at Monday night’s council meeting to apply for a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture’s division of Rural Development to buy fire hoses.

The town has hydrants located on every other corner, about 300 feet apart, but the department only has a couple hundred feet of hose on hand, said Lacey.

“Hopefully, being able to use a fire hydrant can simplify their job,” he said. “That way, they don’t have to stop and fill up the truck and rush over, and they can respond that much quicker.”

The fire district is also developing a wish list of other fire fighting equipment.

Lacey said he was told by a USDA official who was surveying the town’s water system they could provide the fire fighting funding.

Lamont’s water system was replaced through a USDA grant in 2006. Part of that renovation included a 182,000-gallon water tank on a hill south of town. That supplies water into town at 82 pounds per inch.

Lacey added the move to buy fire hoses is part of a greater effort to improve the town. Earlier this year, Lamont received a .09 grant from the county to construct a building that will house the town’s first library.

“We’re bringing a library into town, we’ve got some things going on,” he said. “We want to make sure we’re as safe as can be when it’s finally built.”