New Tools Coming In Handy For Avant Volunteer Firefighters In Wildfire Season

The Avant Volunteer Fire Department is using a grant it received last summer to get radios in the hands of firefighters.

The Avant firefighters have been busy dealing with grass fires inside of their district. They now have a new tool to help fight those fires – two-way radios that were donated to the department.

Grass fires started popping up all over Oklahoma this week when low humidity coupled with high winds moved in.

Acres and acres of land burned from the Tulsa metro to parts of Payne County.

In Osage County, fire departments like Avant's stayed busy on Friday.

About 65 square miles of fire protection are under the Avant Fire Department, and for years firefighters relied on communicating with each other with old radios and cell phone calls.

"It was one of the things we've been battling for years," chief Gene Atkins said.

1/30/2016 Related Story: Avant Volunteer Fire Department Gifted $20K In Radio Equipment

That changed in August when Firehouse Subs awarded the volunteer department with money for new radios, cabling and a repeater antenna.    

“Multiple trucks hear what's going on at the same time and if they're able to break free they can go," he said.

Now the Avant Fire Department can get fires out quicker and keep the firefighters safe.

“Just to know that we can communicate with the departments that are 12-14 miles away is just amazing,” Atkins said. “We never had that capability until this last year."