$50,000 donation goes toward new terrain vehicle for Amarillo Fire Dept.

The 100 Club of the Texas Panhandle, in partnership with Amarillo National Bank, donated $50,000 toward a new utility terrain vehicle (UTV) and needed accessories for the Amarillo Fire Department’s Wildland Paramedic Team.

With this UTV, the team can extract patients from remote locations that may be less accessible to regular fire department vehicles.

Amarillo Police Chief Jason Mays spoke about the importance of the donation for the department.

“This new vehicle will replace an acquired vehicle that was somewhat underpowered and had seen better days, but having a newer and more powerful vehicle to access downed firefighters or other patients in all kinds of terrain adds a whole degree of reliability,” Mays said. “This will primarily be used on assignments through the state involving wildland fires and other disasters like that.”

Mays said that the unit can also be used at community events where there are large gatherings of people, where maneuverability is an issue. When deployed on assignment, the vehicle will be staffed by first responders in case other first responders working a large wildfire happen to fall victim to a traumatic injury or a cardiac arrest, to provide lifesaving care.

“Having the reliability that we will be able to have with the power needed to get in and out of the many different types of terrain we have in the Texas Panhandle will be an invaluable tool,” Mays said. “If you have a true life-threatening emergency, seconds do matter, and gaining access to these areas to provide lifesaving services is vital.”

Mays said the department was grateful for the work of the 100 Club and Amarillo National Bank for the donation.

“These groups have been there for us in so many different ways,” Mays said. "These scratch off some of the things that we want to be able to do our job more effectively. Just having this to get in and out of these remote areas can be crucial.”

Lizzie Ware Williams, community development director for the Amarillo National Bank, spoke about joining in with the 100 Club of the Texas Panhandle for the donation.

“We just wanted to give something that we know can help both Amarillo, Texas, and the 26 counties around us and even in the whole state,” she said. “We were really glad that we could partner with the 100 Club to give this gift to the fire department.”

Suzanne Talley, executive director for the 100 Club of the Texas Panhandle, expressed her group's excitement about being able to donate this vital equipment to the Amarillo Fire Department.

“We are blessed to be able to work with the Amarillo National Bank to donate this vehicle that will give the department more capabilities to navigate rough terrain, to get to places where other trucks cannot get, to help save lives and get medical care where it is needed,” Talley said.

This donation aligns with the 100 Club’s mission of providing lifesaving equipment to first responders. The 100 Club also provides immediate assistance to the families of peace officers and firefighters who are killed or seriously injured in the line of duty.

“With these recent wildfires in the area covered by the departments, this donation was considered an emergency situation where we are trying to help every department that was helping to contain the situation in some way,” Talley said. “Anytime you can better equip your first responders to have the tools they need to do extractions and give care, better than you could before, is a win. They are in the lifesaving business, and if we can give them more tools to do that more safely and provide more lifesaving efforts, we are all about it.”

According to Talley, the 100 Club has paid out a line of duty death for the fallen Fritch Fire Chief and three line of duty injuries. The 100 Club has also paid out $705,000 to 41 volunteer fire departments throughout the Texas Panhandle, not including the UTV donation.

“That is not the kind of budget that the 100 Club has. We do not have those types of funds, but they have come from generous donors across the Panhandle and the nation,” she said. "It is because of that and partnerships such as this with Amarillo National Bank that we were able to get this done. We are just a willing vessel.”

For more information or to donate to the 100 Club, go to https://www.texaspanhandle100club.org/

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: $50,000 donation brings new UTV to AFD Wildland Paramedic Team