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A national group that supports firefighters plans to give the Smithville Area Fire Protection District some financial relief.

Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company’s grant program — named Heritage Program — plans to award the district a $6,670 grant, chief John Callahan said during the fire board’s June meeting.

The funding stems from what Callahan described during the board’s May meeting as a “not completely accurate” local television news report.

In April, Kansas City’s NBC Action News KSHB-TV 41 aired a segment that featured the Smithville fire district’s financial struggles due to lagging sales tax revenue. The report said the district could close due to the revenue drop.

In reality, the district is not facing closure. However, it is dealing with a projected revenue shortfall that has provoked plans to not fill a vacant firefighter position and hold off on purchases such as firefighter uniforms and physicals.

An individual who works for an area company that sells Fireman’s Fund insurance saw the report and recommended the Smithville district for a grant, Callahan said.

Callahan told a Fireman’s Fund representative that the report wasn’t accurate, he said.

“I told them that it wasn’t all doom and gloom and that we’re not ready to close our doors,” he said.

Ron Mori, director of the grant program, is the representative Callahan spoke with, Mori said from his Chicago office last week.

An employee with Westrope insurance company in Kansas City, which is a business partner of Fireman’s Fund, saw the TV report and asked that the Smithville district receive assistance, Mori said.

Mori said that while Callahan did express to him that the report exaggerated the district’s struggles, the district is struggling and needs the grant.

The district plans to spend the extra funding on firefighter uniforms, boots, physicals and training — all expenditures the district planned to hold off on due to the sales tax revenue shortfall.

The grant program uses the Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. profits to award grants to fire departments. The insurance company offers a wide variety of insurance to individuals, families, businesses and organizations.

Mori said the Smithville district should soon receive the grant.

“The money is on its way,” he said.

BACKGROUND

For past stories from The Smithville Herald on the Smithville Area Fire Protection District’s sales tax revenue shortfall and plans to ask voters for more money next year, search for “Smithville fire district” at smithvilleherald.com.

Smithville Editor Nancy Hull Rigdon can be reached at 532-4444 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Comments (1)

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written by Phil Silvers, July 03, 2009

I would like to see some of this fireworks sales tax support the fire district. The Mayor and City Councel want fireworks revenue and legalized fireworks when the fire department is struggling? I did notice the water department got a new pickup.

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