UPCOMING EVENTS

Join us on March 6 for the Bluegrass Gospel Festival at the Family Life Center at Earle's Baptist Grove Church on Hwy 59.   This annual event thanks our community for its support of our Department.   Singing starts at 5:00 pm, but we start hot dog sales at 4:30.   Bring your family, have dinner, and enjoy the singing.    This year's performers are:

5:00 pm    Oconee County Bluegrass

5:30 pm    Promised Land

6:15 pm    Tugaloo Holler

7:00 pm    Last Road

8:00 pm    The Marksman

9:00 pm    Curtis Blackwell

LATEST NEWS

On September 11, we took delivery of our new Pierce custom engine which was purchased with funds assigned by County Council from local property taxes.  The new Pierce engine has a 6 man cab, 1000 gallons water, 1500 GPM pump, hydraulic driven generator, roll up doors, and top mount controls.     A great amount of effort was expended by Department personnel as well as County Emergency Services personnel in determining the specifications for this truck.   Click here for additional photos.

 

On July 3, we took delivery of our new quick attack truck.   The truck was purchased with funds from a 2008 AFG grant.  The truck will replace the current brush truck which is old and unreliable.   Here are some photos of Quick Attack 8 (click the right and left arrows to move through photos):

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EVENT PHOTOS

FAIR PLAY CHRISTMAS PARADE - 2009

The 2009 Fair Play Christmas Parade held on Saturday, December 12, was another success in large part due to the efforts of the Parade Committee led by Steven Adams.  Although the weather was "iffy" we still had 110 entries, not counting the individual horses and 4-wheelers.  We had a good turnout of spectators who braved the cold to enjoy the day with us.   (Clicking on a picture will put that picture into the larger frame.  Clicking on the right or left arrow will advance the pictures.)

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FAIR PLAY CHRISTMAS PARADE 2009

Community Safety Day, hosted by Fair Play Fire Department, was held on May 16, 2009.  Although rain was in the forecast (and the Spring Fling scheduled for that day had to be rescheduled for a later date) Fair Play Fire Department members braved the elements to showcase their skills in vehicle extrication.   The extrication demonstration included dismantling a car or two and getting a "victim" out of an overturned vehicle.   A wide variety of safety agencies were represented including Oconee County Emergency Services, SC Forestry Commission, Oconee County Sheriff's Department, Walhalla Fire Department, Oakway Rescue Squad, and Oconee Medical Center EMS.    Justin Wood, did a great job organizing this event. (Click on thumbnails to see larger pictures.)

 

 

The BLUEGRASS GOSPEL FESTIVAL held Saturday, March 7, at Earle's Grove Baptist Church Family Life Center, was bigger than ever with more singing groups and close to 589 people attending (some from as far away as Michigan).  The music started at 5 with Oconee County Bluegrass, followed by Promised Land, Tugalo Holler, Last Road, The Marksman and Curtis Blackwell.   Renowned banjo player Charles Wood joined Curtis Blackwell for this event and his "pickin" helped top off the evening.   LOTS of hot dogs got eaten...close to 700!!!   Some delicious cakes were auctioned off for the benefit of the fire department.   All the members of FPFD worked hard on this event, particularly the organizer Henry Richardson.   Thanks to the FD members and their family members who devoted time to setting up, cooking and cleaning up after the event.  Our thanks go out to all the community members who give us so much support and to the Town Crier newspaper for their generous donation.  (Click on the right or left arrows to move through the slide show.  Clicking on a picture will put that picture into the large frame.)  

 

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2009 Bluegrass Gospel Festival

 

GRANTS

2009

We have installed a new emergency generator at the station.  This unit was obtained through funding from the Department of Homeland Security with matching funds from Oconee County Council.  The generator will allow the department to remain in service (i.e., heat, electric doors, etc) during power outages.  It will further allow citizens a shelter during times of wide spread emergency.

2008

AFG Grant:  The Officers and Members of Fair Play Fire Department are pleased to announce receipt of there new Quick Attack apparatus (Attack 8).  The truck was primarily funded by grant from Department of Homeland Security (AFG Grant) with assistance from Oconee County Council (i.e. you the tax payer!), SC Forestry, and donations from the property owners in the Fair Play Fire District.   2008 Grant funds were announced on July 31, 2008 and truck was delivered on July 3, 2009.
 
This truck will allow faster response to a variety of calls, and is especially targeted for incidences on the Interstate.  Features of the truck are a 300 gallon water tank, 26 HP diesel driven 300 GPM pump with foam injection system.  Attack 8 also has a PTO driven 12 KW generator powering various equipment including a extendable light tower.  Another item received on an earlier DHS grant is a remote nozzle mounted to the front of the truck which will allow firefighters to extinguish grass fires without leaving the safety of the truck which is a significant issue on the Interstate.

V-SAFE GRANT: Fair Play Fire Department was one of 104 departments in the state to receive a V-SAFE (Volunteer Strategic Assistance and Fire Equipment) Grant through the SC Fire Marshal's Office and the SC Firefighter's Association.    The award of $27,900 was used for much needed extrication equipment.   Department members received training on the equipment on April 12, 2008, and dismantled several cars donated by Jerry's Auto Sales, Towing and Repair of Townville.    Thanks to Grant Writer and firefighter Steven Zahn for getting this grant through.  Thanks also to firefighter Russell Wormald for arranging for the cars and allowing us to use the parking lot of Russell's General Store as our training site.    (Click on thumbnails to see larger pictures.)