St. Charles veterans help fire department purchase new equipment

Four St. Charles veterans organizations contributed to a donation to the St. Charles Fire Department to provide firefighters with new training equipment.

American Legion Post 342, Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 693, American Veterans Post 503 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5036 all contributed to a $1,200 donation to the St. Charles Fire Department for the purchase of a new training mannequin.

Leaders of the organizations handed individual checks to Fire Chief Scott Swanson on April 29 at Fire Station 1 in St. Charles.

St. Charles Fire Chief Scott Swanson (left) accepts a check from American Legion Post 342 Commander Joe Morgan, Sr. Donations were collected by the VFW, American Legion, AMVETS and Vietnam Veterans of America and used for a training mannequin for the St. Charles Fire Department. (Sandy Bressner)

Swanson said the mannequin is a training tool that will allow firefighters to simulate rescue scenarios without the risk of injury. He said the new mannequin was needed. Swanson said the old equipment was out of date and often would break during training exercises.

The 154-pound mannequin will be used by the fire department in training exercises such as river rescue, building searches and technical rescues.

To simulate search and rescue events, the mannequin will be placed inside a building that is then filled with smoke and strobe lights to simulate a fire. Firefighters search through the building to find the mannequin and carry it to safety.

American Legion member John DePauw said in the 1960s and 1970s the St. Charles post donated to the fire and police departments often, but it has been many years since they were last able to contribute. He said they are aiming to reestablish the tradition and this will be one of many donations in the coming years.

St. Charles Veteran Center member Mike Foulkes and American Legion Commander Joe Morgan were the main organizers of the donation. They reached out to the fire department to see what it might need and said each organization was eager to contribute.

St. Charles Fire Chief Scott Swanson talks about the donations collected by the VFW, American Legion, AMVETS and Vietnam Veterans of America the department used for a training mannequin. (Sandy Bressner)

“We try to help each other out,” Swanson said. “We help them host Veterans Day and Memorial Day ceremonies and they reached out looking for a way to do something for us.”

Morgan said after hearing that the fire department needed a mannequin, they reached out to each post to start gathering donations. He said the funds come mainly from their poppy sale donations and member contributions.