A volunteer fire department in Bell County is in dire need of new gear but they don’t have the money to get it.
Imagine being a firefighter rushing into a burning building knowing that the gear you have on may not protect you long enough to reach the person you are trying to save.
That is exactly what the volunteer firefighters at Central Bell go through every time they enter a burning home.
"I do get worried with some of this old gear. Like is said, being a company level officer, I have to make the decision to send somebody in or not and it’s a hard decision to make," said Lt. Dale Gile, Central Bell County Fire and Rescue.
Now they are reaching out to the community to raise money for new gear.
"We could actually go into structure fires and last longer inside the structure fires and we don’t have to worry about getting burned or any harm done to us. So, it is really, really important that we have the newest gear," said Chief Douglas Mckinney, Chief of Central Bell County Fire and Rescue.
Retired veteran Samuel Tamondong, who helps out around the station, sees how important these volunteer firefighters are to the community.
"I respect them with all my heart. What they do every single day. I believe that they should always have something because they go their way every day, serving and doing what they do the best,” said Tamondong.
What they do best is saving lives and new gear will help them do just that.
"We can’t help anybody if we kill ourselves getting there and that is one of the biggest issues that we have with the gear hear and the equipment that we have," said Robert Hadrick, Volunteer Firefighter with Central Bell County Fire and Rescue.
The problem is, they don’t have the funding paid departments do and they need to replace over 20 sets of gear.
Each set costs 25-hundered dollars.
Donations can be made directly to Central Bell County Fire and Rescue in Nollanville.
