In what will become a county-wide resource for area emergency responders, the Freeborn County Department of Emergency Management has acquired a new 15-kilowatt portable generator, equipped with a 30-foot light tower.

Director of Freeborn County Emergency Management Mark Roche said the generator was purchased with a $10,000 grant from the Worth County Development Authority and a Federal Homeland Security Grant.

During emergency situations, the need for emergency electricity and lighting is high on the list for emergency responders to improve scene safety. The new generator and light tower will give area responders an additional tool to work with during emergencies and training operations.

Roche said the county acquired the generator and light tower in May but started using it this month. Recently, it was used during the Freeborn County Road 34 incident on June 29 that killed two and injured five.

“It supplies a lot of purposes either for supplying additional power or lighting up an area,” he said. “It’s amazing. It can be daylight in the middle of the dark of night. It’s very bright.”

Roche said it would have been nice to have the generator and light tower in situations of long-standing fires such as the Farmstead fire, the Clarks Grove elevator fire and the Freeborn Lumber fire.

The department decided it needed the emergency generator after doing an analysis on what was most needed for safety and service to continue during a disaster, the director said.

He wanted to let people know that it is available county wide.

Freeborn County Emergency Management deals with disaster management and avoiding risks. It involves preparing for disaster before it happens, responding to disasters, and supporting and rebuilding society after natural or human-disasters have occurred.