Holyoke, South Hadley, Granby fire departments to purchase equipment through grantsDate: 1/25/2022 WESTERN MASS. – For the second year, the Baker-Polito Administration has awarded $5 million in grant funding to 306 fire departments across the commonwealth to purchase necessary personal protective equipment and safety gear that follows the compliance of the National Fire Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards.
In 2020, Gov. Charlie Baker signed a $1.8 billion Bond Bill to improve information technology, public safety and food security and $25 million of that bond is a grant directly allocated for fire safety grants.
Baker said in a press release, “Our communities and families depend on firefighters in difficult and dangerous moments. This program is an opportunity to show our deep appreciation for their work by ensuring they have the tools they need to stay safe and healthy.”
Lt. Governor Karyn Polito added, “While the last two years have been so difficult for all of us, firefighters and first responders throughout the commonwealth have courageously continued to serve the public. We are grateful for their efforts and proud to be able to provide them with critical equipment and support.”
Fire departments in Massachusetts were able to apply to this program and request the grants for their own specific department’s needs. There were 118 different types of eligible equipment, including personal protective clothing, gear washers and dryers, thermal imaging cameras, assorted hand tools and extrication equipment, communications resources, hazardous gas meters, fitness equipment, and more.
Reminder Publishing spoke with four local fire departments who received the funding and discussed how this grant would impact their departments.
South Hadley Fire District One
Fire Capt. Jason Houle said they applied for the $19,000 maximum amount the grant allowed and received $16.884.79. He reported that they would be adding four additional handheld thermal imaging cameras for each of their four new hires with this allotment. Last year they purchased 20 so that every firefighter had one.
He explained that having the cameras in the firehouse is a “huge advantage because it allows us to do quicker searches for victims and if the firefighters got separated or in a situation, they can find their way out, the camera can assist them in finding the doors and windows to get out of the building. He also noted that it has several advantages in detecting potential problems that are unseen to the naked eye, such as when they are doing inspections, checking electrical outlets, or surfaces that may be hot.
District One will also purchase a battery-operated positive pressure ventilation fan for their engine. Houle said the benefit to this fan is that no extension cords are needed, thus, making it easier to deploy with limited personnel on the scene. He explained that the fans push the smoke out of the building, or if there’s a carbon monoxide incident, it clears away toxic gases and fumes.
Another lifesaving device that will be upgraded with the funds is a battery-powered combination extrication tool. Houle said the advantage of this tool is that “it is faster and easier to deploy in an emergency.” Houle said currently, “the ones on the engine run off a separate gas-powered hydraulic unit and are very cumbersome.”
He explained the reasoning behind the process, “You have to take it out of the vehicle and manually start it up. We have to connect to the hoses, pull them out at the emergency site. It’s very time-consuming and labor-intensive, especially when seconds count – now we can just grab this tool and get right into the vehicle and start getting the doors open or whatever we need to do to get the patients out.”
Lastly, the fourth item they’re purchasing is a calibration charging station for their combustible gas meters. Houle explained meters on the fire trucks monitor oxygen levels, carbon monoxide levels, and gases like hydrogen cyanide and hydrogen sulfide. “During a fire and even after a fire when we’re doing overhaul in the building, there’s still a lot of toxic gases in the air, that sort of thing, also for when we have gas leaks in buildings,” he said.
He said the current models are “time-consuming and more difficult to do” because they have to be manually calibrated with gas bottles. He said the new docking station is simpler and only has to be plugged in and will keep them calibrated and fully charged.
“So the grants allow us to get some of these items that are very important for firefighters and allows us to provide a better service to the rest of the community,” added Houle. “It allows us to do stuff that we probable normally wouldn’t be able to do with our current budgets. We are really obviously happy that the state’s putting an emphasis on firefighter safety and made these grants available to us.”
South Hadley Fire District Two
Chief Todd Calkins told Reminder Publishing his department always has a list of equipment that’s needed to either be replaced or upgraded. He said, “The opportunity that the state is giving us with these grants is incredible, and we’re very thankful.”
He said they received $15,299.96 and used the funds to purchase two complete sets of structural gear, including helmets, gloves and gear, four battery-operated scene lights for fire and EMS, and two thermal imaging cameras.
They also purchased one battery-powered positive pressure fan.
Calkins said receiving this grant “is very important with budget constraints, obviously like everywhere else. It’s very hard to purchase all the equipment that’s needed to run a fire rescue and EMS operation. So, any monies like this that can come forth with it helps us tremendously. We’re a smaller department with a pretty small operating budget, and you know $15,000 goes a long way. With little items, obviously, with the fire service, you can spend that in one purchase real quick, but we were able to get some gear and some other equipment.”
Holyoke
The Holyoke Fire Department reported receiving a $23,063 award for the FY22 fire safety equipment grant. Holyoke Fire Chief Jefferey Przekopowski said it “was a much-needed allocation of funds for equipment” and said they plan to purchase an external gear wash extractor for station six with the funds. Przekopowski explained that this would complete their gear wash extractor project, which involved having an extractor at every fire station across the city. He explained that the gear washer is used to wash the equipment after every event.
Adding to that, they will also be purchasing six thermal imaging cameras. He explained how the cameras work, “These are the devices we use when we do search and rescue. These devices can see through smoke. We can see the victims while we’re doing the search and rescue.”
He said that receiving the grants for the cameras couldn’t have come at a better time because the cameras they currently have are aging and expensive to replace or fix. He explained, “Now we can take the old technology and put those in reserve and put the new technology on the front line trucks. If one of them breaks, we put the old one back. They still work just the same, but the new ones are smaller and lighter to carry.”
Lastly, they will be purchasing six combustible gas detectors used to detect carbon monoxide and natural gas leaks.
He said on just those projects alone, the city wouldn’t be able to fund purchasing these items because of financial circumstances. He added, “This grant is really going to be helpful for us moving forward. I am happy that this grant can continue. I think it’s a five-year program that the state’s putting together. So, there’ll be three more years of this kind of funding, and I look forward to putting more applications in and trying to update the department the best we can to have the best technology.”
Granby
With the $15,200 they received, Granby Fire Department Lieutenant Gene Os said their department would be purchasing new structural firefighting boots for their 36 firefighters. He said each pair costs approximately $550 and because the boots are a requirement for all firefighters, he said obtaining the grant saves Granby the expense of having to bear the purchase of getting them “one way or another.”
He explained most of the firefighters’ boots were out of date, and according to National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA) standards, they are only suitable for 10 years or less. Os remarked that many of their members are past that mark. He added that each boot has a stamp dating the time it was manufactured, and firefighters can’t legally wear them after the 10-year mark.
Regarding the funding to pay for the much-needed equipment he said, “It’s fantastic that the state is giving all the fire departments what they need because firefighters, you know, we want everybody to go home at the end of the day. So, it keeps all our firefighters safe. So, the longer run of everything, that’s our goal is to have the proper equipment for everybody.”
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