Although separated, the Clatonia Fire Department and Rescue Squad often train together. They also respond together in the area and aid neighboring communities.
A Clatonia ambulance and truck at a fundraising event. The new ambulance, which was ordered in April 2023, will arrive soon.
Courtesy photo
A member of the Clatonia Rescue Squad sits by an ambulance that will soon be replaced by a newer model.
The Clatonia Rescue Squad will be getting a new ambulance soon.
The new ambulance was ordered in April 2023, and the squad hopes hope to have it by the early spring.
Treasurer Shannon Ullman said the cost of the unit was around $280,000.
“It’s a basic, not a lot of bells and whistles, ambulance,” she said. “We’ve been doing fundraisers for a while.”
Earlier this year the group hosted an ATV ride and a Windsor loin dinner with the Clatonia Fire Department, and was one of nearly 90 agencies involved in Big Give Gage. They received a $75,000 grant from the Nebraska Ambulance ARP with the Department of Health and Human Services.
The squad has two ambulances. Ullman said they try to keep the main unit as a new model.
“We try to keep Unit 1 as a newer model and then have a backup unit. Just in case there are multiple victims and need to run two ambulances. Sometimes if there is a big fire, we will take the older ambulance, so we don’t get it too smoky,” she said.
The older model ambulance will be sold to offset some of the cost of the new unit.
The Rescue Squad and the Fire Department are separated in Clatonia. Some of the volunteers with the Fire Department are also on the eight-member team.
“We had three EMTs retire last year and could use more. A lot of small-town rescue units are in desperate need of more volunteers. It’s several hours of training, but volunteers will be reimbursed for the cost of the training,” Ullman said.
The Rescue Squad and the Fire Department serve Clatonia in northwest Gage County and the surrounding area. The volunteers often train with neighboring community departments and respond to fires, like the multiple grass fires this past fall, to provide aid.
When U.S. lawmakers passed a stopgap funding bill this month to keep the government running through September, more than $100 million earmarke…
Although separated, the Clatonia Fire Department and Rescue Squad often train together. They also respond together in the area and aid neighboring communities.
