Amador County – The Sutter Creek Fire Department doled out the winnings of a 181,000 Dollar State grant Monday, with the award to be split among 5 firefighting jurisdictions in Amador County. Sutter Creek Fire Captain and grant program director Dan Barnes and members of the local brigades will each get about 36,000 dollars worth of new extrication equipment from the California Office of Traffic Safety. He said that includes 5 sets of hydraulic Hurst extrication tools, 5 heavy airbags, rescue stabilization struts, portable lighting and a portable gasoline powered hydraulic power unit. The power generator powers two Hurst tools at a time. The grant is part of the “Regional Extrication Improvement Program,” and gives the equipment to Sutter Creek and Jackson Fire Departments; Battalion 20 of the Amador Fire Protection District, which covers Plymouth and Fiddletown; AFPD Battalion 10, which covers Upcountry; and the Lockwood Fire Protection District. Barnes said he has been working on the grants since last winter and he’ll wrap up the grant in another year. He will also file quarterly reports on the equipment’s usage, as part of the grant, so that statistics on results may be known, such as patient conditions after being saved with the equipment. The equipment was delivered 2 weeks ago, just before the election. Barnes said “this is a good thing for Amador County. We got Measure M passed and now this. We’re taking steps in the right direction.” Story by Jim Reece (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).