Wales Genesee Fire Department receives $20,000 gift from anonymous donor

VILLAGE OF WALES - Late last year, Fire Chief Jim Moon got an unexpected early Christmas gift. 

He found it Dec. 20 when he went through his mail and came across an envelope from a bank he didn't recognize. At first, he thought it was just promotional mail. 

"I thought it was going to say something like 'open an account with us.' I don't always open them, but for some reason I opened this one," Moon said. 

It's a good thing he did, because the fire department now has $20,000 worth of new equipment. 

The gift came soon after someone called the fire department and inquired about how to make a donation. The caller also asked Moon if the fire department could get anything it wanted, what would it be?

"I told the caller we could use two new thermal imaging cameras. The ones we had were outdated, and they're each $10,000, and we just don't have money in the bank for that," Moon said.

Not long after, a $20,000 check arrived in the mail. Moon didn't quite know what to do. He said the fire board got together and decided to take it to the bank to see if it cleared. 

It did. 

The fire department was able to use the donation to purchase two new thermal imaging cameras, which are used to detect hot spots. The fire department uses them for a variety of things, such as checking walls after a structure fire and locating people during emergencies. 

"For a small department like ours it would have taken years to get new cameras," Moon said. "It was a great surprise."