ROCKPORT – Rockport Fire Department, Inc., held its “Toll Booth” fundraiser Aug. 14 to help raise money for some new equipment to better serve the town.

The firefighters, all wearing another layer of clothing with their fluorescent safety vests, collected donations for five hours on a hot summer day, but kept hydrated and energized with the support and compliments they received from those stopping to help fill their boots.

“We received a lot of positive feedback about the job we are doing for the community and this makes all of us feel very appreciated about what we do,” said Rockport Fire Chief Jason Peasley. “I am also very proud of our team’s dedication to fundraise, since many of them took time off from their jobs to help out on Friday.”

According to Peasley, there was a significant amount of support from the business community to complement donations from the general public and summer visitors. Donations are still coming in and so far the department has collected $7,400 and is expecting to surpass the $7,500 raised last year.

“This support is awesome and we are extremely grateful for the community’s backing, and we will definitely make the toll booth an annual fundraising event,” said Peasley.

Firefighters stood at the intersection of routes 17 and 90, between 1 and 6 p.m. and drivers who were stopped at the traffic light had the opportunity to voluntarily drop a donation in a firefighter’s boot. 

Peasley said that giving community members an option to donate to the department to help cover the cost of replacing and acquiring new equipment, is in lieu of asking the town to add it to the department’s budget. 

According to Peasley, the department is in need of a Cascade System and Class B uniforms for firefighters to represent the department and town at special ceremonies such as funerals and special events. The Cascade air bottling refilling station allows small cylinders to be filled with air without a compressor and helps to meet the demand of filling several small size cylinders in succession especially when fighting fires or during training exercises.

Peasley said that currently they have to rely on Rockland Fire Department to refill each tank and they would operate much more efficiently during fires if they did not have to take each bottle down and use firefighters’ valuable time to fill the tanks.

Peasley said that the cost of running a fire department continues to increase every year and the challenge is to meet that need financially so they can consistently improve the department’s efficiencies and capabilities.

The cost of the Cascade system is around $36,000, according to Peasley.

Peasley said he applies for at least six grants annually and so far this year has received two years of free cell phone service for the department and defibrillators. He is also working on additional grants to obtain communication head set gear for the firefighters which is safety protection for hearing and allows communication among the trucks.

Donations can also be dropped off at the fire station, adjacent to the town office, or mail a check made out to the Rockport Fire Department, Inc., to P.O. Box 142, Rockport, ME 04856.

Sarah Shepherd can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com