Want to join me in making a real difference in Crystal Lakes? I'm raising money to benefit Crystal Lakes Volunteer Fire Department, and any donation you can manage will help make an impact. Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to me. So what is the goal? As many of you notice, we work hard to do a lot with what we have, and while we are fortunate to have every piece of equipment currently in the station, much of it came to us as “hand-me-downs”. This fundraiser is to help replace one of our aging Brush Trucks. We currently have two Brush Trucks. One is a 1988 Chevy that had burned in a fire and was rebuilt prior to our receiving it, and the other is an early 90s two-seater with an aging pump system. What is a Brush Truck? A Brush Truck is a crucial piece of equipment for a community like ours. Its role is to quickly respond to wildfires, carrying the personnel and equipment necessary to fight fires in grass, brush, and forest, often in difficult-to-reach places. In our community, especially, a Brush Truck also plays a key role in structure fires, because our entire community is in what we call the, “Wildland Urban Interface,” or WUI (pronounced: woo-ee). In the WUI, structure fires can cause wildfires and vice-versa, so a nimble yet capable Brush Truck and the firefighters aboard it can spell the difference between an isolated fire that is quickly extinguished or a fire that spreads out of control, threatening the entire community. Why does Crystal Lakes need a new Brush Truck? To safely and effectively attack a fire, we need to initially respond with at least four firefighters on the first Brush Truck to arrive on scene. Currently, our most capable Brush Truck (Brush 1) has room for only two firefighters, which makes it very difficult to safely and effectively fight a fire, especially if it has grown large or is being wind-driven. And, the aging pump system on Brush 1 lacks the reliability and pumping power that newer pumps offer, adding one more barrier to firefighter safety and limiting our capabilities in fighting fires through Crystal Lakes. Here’s what we humbly request: Help us raise $150k to build a new Brush Truck. Build, you ask? Yes! To purchase a Brush Truck outright adds tens of thousands of dollars to the project. Instead, we plan to achieve a better, more capable piece of equipment that is precisely suited to our needs and all for less money. We accomplish this by purchasing the basic truck, then we, as a department, put in the blood, sweat, and tears ourselves to outfit it with firefighting equipment. To get this off the ground, I am pledging $2000. That leaves $148k to go. If 148 people donate $1k, we are already there! If just shy of 300 people donate $500, we’ll have what we need. Please donate what you can, as every dollar helps get us closer to our goal of better service with a more capable and reliable piece of essential equipment. And, as always, we thank you for your support. Donations go to CL FIRES, a 501c3, which means all donations are tax-deductible.

Joseph Pizzo

Tim Boswell

Travis Darrow

Justin Bogli

Rick Hildebrand

Tricia Cornish

Nacime Alfaras

Brian Rizman

Don Elledge

Mark Kerwood

Salman Rashid

David Deckter

TIm Christin

Anonymous

Matthew Paster

Steve & Kellie Sponberg

Brad Nauman

Vyvyan Howland

Syra Arif Sait

CLVFD Brush Truck Drive

CLVFD Brush Truck Drive

Still $136,584 to go. Help us build momentum.