Claremore Firefighters Receive Donation To Help In Case Of Flooding

Firefighters in Claremore are about to have a little extra gear to add to their equipment.

They now have a watertight case, designed for firefighter radios in wet conditions.

Union president Ty Burnett said it's something they've needed for a while.

"We've continued to have problems with the radios getting wet," said Burnett.

A tragedy nearly 5 years ago played a factor as well.

In May of 2015, Claremore firefighter Jason Farley died during flash flooding.

“He was trying to speak to command and communicate with them. He was not able to,” said Burnett. “At that point, he decided to go to command to communicate with them and that's when he ended up getting caught in this drainage ditch."

An internal and federal investigation later found several fire department radios became inoperable that day because they got wet.

Burnett said after the tragedy, they worked to fix the problem to make sure it didn't happen again.

That's when the Claremore Elks Lodge 1230 stepped in to help.

"Back in 2016, they provided a grant that actually gave us our first water rescue training, which was about a year after Captain Farley passed away," said Burnett.

Now, the Elks Lodge is helping again, this time purchasing 15 radio enclosures, enough for each engine, and five flotation devices and throw bags.

It's something Burnett said they're very grateful for.

"We'd definitely rather have him back,” said Burnett. “If we would have had these that night, it probably would have been a different outcome. We're really thankful to have them now."