Holiday Lake Estates VFD acquires vehicle extrication tools with grant

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From Enterprise Staff

The Texas A&M Forest Service Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance Program awarded Holiday Lake Estates Volunteer Fire Department with a $20,000 grant to assist in the purchase of new apparatuses and equipment.

With the grant, Holiday Lake Estates VFD was able to purchase vehicle extrication tools including a power unit, spreader, cutter and ram. Holiday Lake Estates VFD Fire Chief Arthur West explained that the tools have already been put to use in response to a vehicle accident last week.

The new extrication tools allow Holiday Lake Estates VFD a better opportunity to rescue victims entrapped as a result of vehicle accidents, and rely less on mutual aid resources to arrive on the scene.

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“With these tools, we no longer have to wait on mutual aid,” West said. “In fact, we are also now able to assist our mutual aids that don’t have this equipment.”

Holiday Lake Estates VFD was established in 1994 to provide fire protection and emergency medical response to residents of Holiday Lake Estates and the surrounding area of Polk County.

West shared that the department is always looking for new volunteers. Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer can contact the department by calling 936-252-2889 or by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Texas A&M Forest Service is an agency operating within the Texas A&M University System and as the Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance Program administrator is committed to protecting lives, property and natural resources. The Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance Program is funded by the Texas State Legislature to provide cost share funding to rural volunteer fire departments for the acquisition of firefighting vehicles, fire and rescue equipment, protective clothing, dry-hydrants, computer systems and firefighter training.

For more information on programs offered by Texas A&M Forest Service, please visit http://texasfd.com.