Firefighters giving away radios

By Staff
Nathan Strickland
Alabamians spent the week celebrating Severe Weather Awareness Week by testing sirens and emergency preparedness measures.
But sirens may not help some people, especially if they live far away from them and are not able to hear them during a storm.
City and county fire departments throughout Franklin County are stocked full with weather radios and are anxious to start distributing them.
Weather radios can be life-saving tools in the event of approaching hurricanes, heavy rain, floods, tornados, or snow and ice. Weather alert radios are critical items to have in the home, office, for travelers, boaters, campers, hikers and for just about everyone who may be affected by severe weather.
Russellville Fire Chief Joe Mansell said he would hate to see a storm come and there still be dozens of weather radios stored at his station.
Mansell said the radios are free and available to anyone who is interested while supplies last.
Franklin County Fire and Rescue Squad Association president Michael Moomaw said money was raised at Wal-Mart and donations from RC&D, Sen. Roger Bedford and Rep. Johnny Mack Morrow were taken and used to purchase a stockpile of weather radios for each fire department.
Moomaw believes weather radios are one of the fastest ways to detect if a severe storm system is headed to the area.
Weather radios are available for pick up at each of the 14 fire departments all over Franklin County. Moomaw said each department is trained and responsible for programming each radio for residents who come to pick one up.