Rollins Volunteer Fire Department gets $47K boost from Flathead Electric Co-op's safety program

Flathead Electric Cooperative’s Roundup for Safety program on Nov. 14 awarded $46,776 in grants supporting community safety projects proposed by 10 local nonprofit organizations.

The Roundup for Safety Board of Directors heard Rollins Volunteer Fire Department’s request for $10,000 for two sets of turnout gear during the discussion. The department is an all-volunteer unit, with no paid positions, and supports Rollins, Lakeside, Somers and other Flathead and Lake county neighbors and visitors, as necessary via mutual aid service. 

Carey Cooley, Rollins Volunteer Fire Department chief, discussed the group’s request for turnout gear, or personal protective equipment. Cooley oversees about 20 volunteer firefighters and noted that the number of recent wildfires in the Rollins area, such as the Niarada and Elmo fires, has created growth in the volunteer group.

“In this instance, growth is a wonderful problem to have,” Cooley told the Roundup for Safety Board. “However, we do not have enough personal protective equipment to outfit our volunteers, and what we do have is very old and coated in carcinogens. We originally received most of it, with great gratitude, as hand-me-downs from the Polson Fire Department, at least 15 years ago. We desperately need new gear to keep our volunteers safe when fighting structure and wildland fires and assisting in traffic accidents and other emergencies.”

During the ensuing discussion, the board learned that Cooley’s father, Terry Gore, first joined the department in the mid-1980s and went on to serve three stints as chief, for a total of 19 years of service in the leadership role. Cooley’s mother, Linda Gore, first became the agency's secretary-treasurer in 1994. In total, she has served 21 years in that role and continues as secretary today.

Linda Gore accompanied Cooley to the Roundup for Safety presentation and offered the board her perspective on the changing nature, and volume, of requests that the Rollins Volunteer Fire Department responds to each day. 

“With an increase in population in Rollins and all along the West Shore over the past few years, the number of fire calls has nearly doubled, including structure fires, wildland fires and additional ambulance assistance for the Lakeside Quick Response Unit. It takes about 50 minutes to get an ambulance from Polson, so Rollins is often the first on the scene of an emergency,” Gore said.

Gore also shared that one of Carey’s three adult daughters joined the department two years ago as a cadet, becoming the third generation of the family to volunteer with the Rollins Volunteer Fire Department. Now 18 years old, Addy Cooley is a regular member of the department and a freshman at Flathead Valley Community College.

The Roundup for Safety Board, established in 1997, expressed its gratitude for the Cooley family’s service to the Rollins community for over 40 years.

The board also awarded Bigfork Youth Baseball Association $6,000 for a backstop; Glacier Lacrosse $1,000 for helmets; Whitefish Library Association $1,500 for an automated external defibrillator; Glacier Symphony $5,000 for steps and a ramp; Friends of Flathead Snowmobile Association $4,500 for avalanche training; Lincoln County $3,000 for a Kootenai River safety map; and Friends of the Flathead Avalanche Center $3,776 for a data and imagery infrastructure upgrade. 

Roundup for Safety funding comes from participating Flathead Electric Cooperative members who allow their monthly electric bills to be rounded up to the nearest dollar. The program costs each member about $6 per year and has provided over $5 million in funding since 1997.