West Nodaway fire district receives donation

DUSTIN HENGGELER/DAILY FORUM
Former West Nodaway Fire Protection District volunteer Brandon Simpson, right, demonstrates how to operate the air pack systems donated to the fire station. The donation comes from the Ankeny, Iowa, Fire Department where Simpson is currently employed.

The West Nodaway Fire Protection District was the recipient of several self-contained breathing apparatuses from the Ankeny, Iowa, Fire Department.

Former department volunteer Brandon Simpson, now a firefighter in Ankeny, was the man behind the plan to donate the retired equipment to his hometown fire station.

Simpson has been with the Ankeny Fire Department since 2008. He was a volunteer at the West Nodaway fire station from 1996 until 2007 when he moved to Ankeny.

“When I started here I was 15 or 16 and began as a junior firefighter,” Simpson said. “Everything I learned was from these guys. Not only the fire side of it, but how the guys you work alongside are your family. You don’t always get that in a bigger station, but every time I come here it’s home to me.”

Ankeny’s donation to the West Nodaway Fire Protection District comes after its own station received a $180,000 grant that helped them purchase new equipment. Its old equipment, about 15 years old, was going to be thrown away, but Simpson knew his former fire station could benefit from it. The new air pack equipment recently purchased by Ankeny is approximately $7,500 per firefighter.

“There was a little hesitation from my fire chief due to the possible liability our station could face by giving the equipment to another station,” he said. “But I told my fire chief that one way or another I was going to be giving the equipment to these guys.”

The Ankeny fire chief signed off on the donation, which includes 27 air packs, 54 air tanks, 74 face pieces, and two Rapid Intervention Packs. West Nodaway Fire Protection District Fire Chief Bobby Smith said the donation is a huge benefit to the station.

“Brandon has gone through a lot to get these for us,” Smith said of the donation. “All we had to do was sign some papers saying we will not hold the Ankeny Fire Department liable if anything happens. The equipment they donated to us is about 30 years newer than anything we’ve got here, so this is all new to us.”

After the station gets what it needs, Smith said he plans to contact surrounding stations for them to go through and get what they need.

“These are lighter and have safety devices that warn when air is low, so it will benefit our guys a lot,” Smith said. “This is huge for us, as I’m sure it will be for some of the other local fire stations.”

Simpson was on hand Monday to train his former fire department on how to use and maintain the equipment.