Central Mass. Fire Departments to Benefit from Federal Grants
WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 – In the past month, the federal government has awarded $198,743 to the Boylston, Northborough and West Boylston fire departments through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program for equipment, training and facility modifications.
The Homeland Security Department gave the Boylston department $45,670 for equipment and training, awarded Northborough $93,366 for personal protective equipment and gave West Boylston $59,707 for facility modifications and personal protective equipment.
“It’s great to have this money,” said West Boylston Fire Chief Jack Chandler. “We’ve applied for it the last three years and this is the first time we’ve got it. I told the guys on Tuesday night that we’d be getting some new equipment and they we’re pretty excited.”
West Boylston plans to use the grant for a vehicle exhaust removal system as well as 10 sets of brand new personal protective equipment.
The grants do not cover the entire amount of the departments’ requests, however. Boylston’s grant application, for example, listed its budget for operations and safety at $48,073, about five percent more than the grant. The department will need to find the $2,403 difference.
“In this regard, the fire department is not winning the lottery, if you will,” said Brian Cowan, director of the federal program. “There is still a serious investment that needs to be made at the local level as well, whether it’s through tax dollars or independent funding.”
The same is true for Northborough and West Boylston. Northborough’s budget for operations and safety was listed at $98,280, and West Boylston’s was $62,850. Both departments will need to make up the five percent difference from other sources.
The grant program, started in the spring of 2001, has a yearly budget of $715 million. Fire departments across the nation make specific requests for such things as training, equipment, personal wellness programs for firefighters and modifications to the fire stations.
“This program is obviously a huge help for these fire departments,” said Cowan, the program director. “The grants are able to help them with their daily operations and safety concerns.”
Cowan said that in their applications, fire departments needed to convince the reviewers that there was a specific need for equipment and no financial means to buy it. Additionally, the departments needed to reveal a plan for improving their operations.
“It’s not only important for big cities to get federal funding but smaller towns as well,” said Rep. Jim McGovern. “When disaster strikes, it doesn’t discriminate as we’ve seen with Hurricane Katrina. Not only was New Orleans affected, but many small towns on the Gulf Coast as well, so it’s important that these smaller fire departments get the federal assistance they need.”
About 70 percent of the firehouses awarded grants were, like Boylston, exclusively volunteer. Both Northborough and West Boylston are a combination of volunteer and career firefighters.
Boylston Fire Chief Joseph Flanagan and Northborough Fire Chief David Durgin were unavailable for comment Wednesday. Durgin was attending a fire training course in Worcester and Flanagan has been assisting with hurricane relief on the Gulf Coast.
