As part of a commitment to improve quality of life in its communities, Perdue Farms has awarded The Fall Creek Community Volunteer Fire Department (FCCVFD) in East Bend, N.C. a $8,510 grant to purchase a new 1,500-foot fire hose.

The donation from the Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation is part of the company’s Delivering Hope to Our Neighbors initiative focused on improving quality of life and building strong communities.

“Being part of a rural district, we are limited on our water supply and, unfortunately, we do not have access to any public water system,” said Jody Vestal, FCCVFD fire chief. “Within our primary response district, we currently protect approximately 60 poultry houses, with the majority being aligned with Perdue. The purchase of an additional hose allows us to pump water from the closest water source in a greater volume to the structure in the unfortunate event of a fire.”

During 2020, FCCVFD firefighters responded to 339 service calls that included 24 structure fires, one vehicle fire and 13 wildland fires that scorched about nine acres. The department also provided mutual aid 37 times and automatic aid 95 times, 20 of which were working structure fires. The FCCVFD has formal agreements with five departments for automatic aid and two departments for mutual aid, providing services to an additional 25,341 residents living in 237 square miles.

“These funds from Perdue will benefit not only the farmers but our entire community through our (Insurance Services Office) rating,” Vestal said. “We are currently an ISO grade 4 and will need to maintain this grade in future years to keep our residents’ homeowner’s insurance lower.”

The purchase of a new hose will help maintain the ISO grade to meet those requirements, Vestal said, allowing “our volunteers to use higher volumes of water at lower pressures, which is safer for them also.”

Kim Nechay, executive director of the Perdue Foundation, said Perdue is pleased to help the fire department.

“We at Perdue are so grateful to the volunteer fire departments that serve the communities that our operations and farmers call home,” Nechay said. “It is an honor to help purchase equipment for The Fall Creek Community VFD. We know this will help with their preparedness and ability to serve.”  

Source: Perdue Farms