Roxboro, NC (November 19, 2018) – The City of Roxboro Fire and Rescue Department received a $100,000 zero-interest loan to help pay for their new air and light truck. Piedmont Electric Membership Corporation is playing a supporting role in the purchase of this truck by facilitating this loan funded from the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant (REDLG) program revolving loan fund.
This new air truck will be used to fill the Self Contained Breathing Apparatuses on emergency sites and provide a light tower to illuminate the scenes for improved fire rescue response. Before the purchase of this air truck, the Roxboro Fire Department needed to return to a fire station to refill their breathing apparatuses. This addition to their fleet will improve their life-saving assistance across 200-square miles and beyond.
“The truck is needed because we have no way of filling our bottles on scene,” Chief Torain explained. “On a medium to large incident, we will exhaust our air and will not be able to return into the structure until we refill the bottles. This air truck will allow us to fill bottles on scene throughout Person County.”
The funds for the air truck came from the revolving loan fund created from repaid USDA REDLG loans facilitated by Piedmont Electric. Payments from organizations who have received REDLG loans managed by Piedmont Electric in the past are placed into this revolving loan fund which allows these federal funds to be re-loaned in our local communities.
“The USDA REDLG program is a unique opportunity for us to be able to support our communities beyond our electric service,” stated Steve Hamlin, Piedmont Electric President and CEO. “We are proud to work with the City of Roxboro and the Roxboro Fire Department to improve the quality of life in one of the communities we serve.”
In the past several years, Piedmont Electric has secured more than $10 million in USDA funding within Person, Alamance, Orange, Caswell and Durham counties for fire trucks, fire stations, ambulances, schools and a public library. As the funds are repaid they are re-loaned to assist with future projects in communities served by Piedmont Electric.
Piedmont Electric is a local, member-owned, not-for-profit electric cooperative serving more than 32,000 electric accounts in Alamance, Caswell, Durham, Granville, Orange and Person counties. Piedmont Electric exists to serve our members and improve the quality of life in our communities through local employment, economic development, business engagement, youth education, grants to educators, advocacy for energy issues, community involvement and emergency preparedness support. Visit www.pemc.coop for more information.
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Photo caption: Members of the City of Roxboro Fire and Rescue Department and representatives of Piedmont Electric gather to celebrate the closing of $100,000 in zero-interest loans to the City of Roxboro Fire and Rescue Department.
Photo caption: Chief Torain discusses the City of Roxboro Fire and Rescue Department’s new air and light truck.
Photo caption: Chief Torain and representatives from Piedmont Electric discuss the City of Roxboro Fire and Rescue Department’s new air and light truck.