Fire department awarded $28,000 grant for UTV

Grant Township Fire Chief Dan Yost in the department’s new Polaris UTV.

Fire department awarded $28,000 grant for UTV

By Allison Scarbrough, Editor

GRANT TOWNSHIP — Grant Township Fire and Rescue was awarded a $28,000 grant from Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation to purchase a 2022 Polaris Ranger utility terrain vehicle.

The UTV, also called a side-by side, joined the fire department’s now eight-vehicle fleet, March 23.

“We’ve been talking about getting a side-by-side for years, especially with Electric Forest,” said Grant Township Fire Chief Dan Yost. “We never had any type of apparatus that is sufficient for that area.” The new Ranger will be helpful for firefighters to cover the grounds of the massive music festival that occurs annually at the end of June at the Double JJ Resort in Rothbury. “It will run almost 24 hours a day for that event. We have to enforce all of the fire lanes to make sure they’re adequate space.” The fire department also responds to hazardous materials incidents at the site.

Firefighters will use the UTV at the annual Lakes of Fire Festival at Lucky Lake Campground, said Yost.

The Polaris will be useful for fighting grass, dune and forest fires, as well as assisting people during medical emergencies on the William Field Memorial Hart-Montague Trail and other wooded trails. “In the past, we’ve just walked them out, which is a lot of manpower. Now, we can put them on our side-by-side and just drive them out.”

The fire department covers 110 square miles, including Claybanks Township and a portion of Otto Township.

The fire department provided the skid unit in the back of the UTV so it’s emergency-equipped. “We opted for one that has an 80-gallon water tank with a fire pump, and it also has a part that folds down, so we can put a patient on it.”

Most fire departments in Oceana County have UTVs, and Grant Township has borrowed from neighboring Shelby-Benona Fire Department in the past, as well as Muskegon Township. “It’s time to have our equipment.”

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