Pancakes to help Persia pay for new firetruck

PERSIA, Iowa — Pancakes, tractors and softballs are paying for the Persia Fire Department's new firetruck.

Fundraisers and donations helped put a down payment on the rig, which the department purchased last May. The fundraisers continue this weekend with the annual Persia Firemen's Breakfast as the department works to pay off the $90,000 purchase.

"Without community support, getting this truck wouldn't have happened," said Dave Albers, a 25-year member of the volunteer department.

The 2003 Freightliner with four-wheel drive holds 1,200 gallons of water and can be used as a stationary pumper for structure fires or as a mobile pumper that sprays water while attacking field and brush fires. That last part is important, Albers said, because most department calls are for such fires.

The new rig replaces the one Persia used for decades: a 1964 Ford that was just a stationary pumper.

The department has focused fundraising efforts on a replacement rig over the past five years, said Chief Mark Carrigan.

The pancake breakfast brings in about $7,000 before expenses.

So how many pancakes does it take to buy a firetruck?

Let's have some fun with the math. An average of about 350 people attend the annual breakfast. If each person ate three pancakes, that's 5,250 pancakes consumed in the last five years.

And a lot of syrup.

Pancakes, though, aren't the only items that are purchasing the firetruck. The breakfast is among five major fundraisers the department holds almost yearly.

Fundraising efforts during Persia's 125th anniversary in August 2008 also were a major moneymaker for the purchase, said Dan Manhart, department treasurer.

At the Persia Community Hall on Sunday from 7 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. firefighters, their spouses and others will serve French toast, scrambled eggs, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, ham, bacon, sausage, juice, coffee and more, buffet style.

And the firetruck will be on display.

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