Fire department receives $100,000 grant

One Marquette County township fire department recently received a $100,000 grant from the Cliffs/Rio Tinto Foundation.

The Forsyth Township Fire Department will use the grant money towards purchasing a new tanker truck.  The tanker truck will be used in Forsyth Township and the surrounding communities.

“This is huge,” Fire Chief Don Hutchens said in a press release.  “This grant is about  half the cost of a new tanker.  It just saves the taxpayers of Forsyth Township a lot of money.  Whenever you get a business or businesses in the community to step up and donate this kind of money towards your project is unbelievable.”

The current tanker truck is twenty years old, and the department has been looking for ways to replace the truck as soon as possible.  A tanker truck is an important piece of equipment for rural fire departments.

The Cliffs/Rio Tinto Foundation awards grants through an applications and a review process.

The Forsyth Township Fire Department is a all–volunteer department that was established over 100 years ago and has 35 members.  The department responds to about 160 calls a year.