Nov 5
Excerpts from the nwherald.com:
The Huntley Fire Protection District was the recipient of more than $1 million in federal funding as part of the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response – or SAFER – program to ensure area fire departments meet their staffing needs.
The funds were made available by the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant.
Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
A $565,000 grant awarded to the Calumet City Fire Department will pay for hiring additional firefighters, as will a grant of $537,000 to the Homewood Fire Department. The grants are part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant program.
A grant of just under $27,000 to South Chicago Heights will be used for a community risk reduction assessment that can be stored online for access by firefighters.
Excerpts from wandtv.com:
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in cooperation with the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) has awarded two Assistance to Firefighters (AFG) grants totaling $411,597.52 to the Champaign Fire Department
The first grant of $272,311.81 is in the Operations & Safety program. It provides cancer, physical, and mental health screenings and resources for emergency personnel. The second grant of $139,285.71 is in the Fire Prevention & Safety program and will go towards purchasing a fire safety house trailer used for educational safety demonstrations.
Excerpts from the ForestParkReview.com:
The Forest Park Fire Department will purchase of a new fire engine and an ambulance thanks to a grant from the federal government and action taken by the village council.
The fire engine will cost $450,000, with $428,572, or 95 percent covered by a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters Program grant. The village will pay the remaining 5 percent, $21,428.00. This will replace a 1993 engine used as a reserve.
To facilitate purchase of the engine, the village also entered into an inter-local for cooperative purchasing contract with the Houston-Galveston Area Council. Gillian explained the contract fulfills terms of the agreement for the grant, which he said village officials have been pursuing for years.
Officials are still working on specifications and manufacturers but hope to place the order for the engine by the end of September. They will purchase the engine from a company that produces all components rather than the chassis from one company and the body from another.
The ambulance, a Road Rescue demonstrator, is $154,000 and will replace a 2005 model that will be traded in. Funding for a new ambulance has been budgeted in each of the previous four years, but the money was needed elsewhere.The fire department hopes to accept delivery in early October.
The new vehicles join a 2003 truck and a 2007 engine in the department’s fleet.
To help finance the purchases, the village council voted Monday to establish a 10-year $750,000 line of credit with Forest Park National Bank. Gillian explained the line of credit will be used to finance the initial equipment and vehicle purchases. After the final purchases are made, the village will refinance with loans, 10-year loans for what he called the “big-ticket items” and five-year loans for the lower-cost purchases.
thanks Dan
From the Village of Oak Forest.org:
Fire Department receives more than $285,000 to purchase new equipment
Thanks to a $285,819 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Oak Forest Fire Department will be able to replace mission-critical gear that is more than 10 years old.
“We are extremely grateful to receive this award, which fills a tremendous safety need for our emergency responders, “said Oak Forest Fire Department Chief Jack Janozik. “I am very proud of our staff, who worked incredibly hard on the grant application.”
As part of the grant’s requirements, the fire department will contribute $28,581 toward the purchase of 28 breathing air pack harnesses, 56 cylinders and 44 air masks. In addition, 44 firefighters will receive a complete set of personal protective clothing, including helmets and boots.
FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighters Grants program enhances the safety of the public and firefighters with respect to fire-related hazards by providing direct financial assistance to eligible fire departments, non-affiliated emergency medical services organizations, and state fire training academies for critically needed resources to equip and train emergency personnel to recognized standards, enhance operations efficiencies, foster interoperability, and support community resilience.
From the inVillaPark.com:
Villa Park Fire Department Awarded FEMA Grant to Replace Breathing Apparatus
The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) recently awarded the Villa Park Fire Department a grant through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant to purchase 26 self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA).
The grant will cover $189,564 or 90 percent of the purchase cost to replace 14-year-old SCBAs. Each new air pack comes with two air bottles, wearing harness, and a mask. In addition, the grant will be used to purchase one new integrated air compressor/fill station for the new bottles.
The new equipment will improve the safety and effectiveness of the firefighters during fire suppression operations as well as other incidents that would require the use of an SCBA. The new SCBAs will improve standardization with neighboring fire departments/districts, as many of them have similar models where the air bottles, masks, etc. are interchangeable.
Excerpts from the DailyChronicle.com:
The DeKalb Fire Department secured a $239,000 federal grant to buy a mobile training tower for high-rise fires and the city of DeKalb provided a $21,727 match.
Having the mobile tower gives the fire department permanent training equipment, as well as a tool to learn how to fight fires in taller structures. Officials said the DeKalb area has some 30 buildings that would be considered high-rise. The mobile tower is about the height of a four-story building. It is equipped with a four-landing staircase, six windows, a smoke machine, standpipe and sprinkler systems, and a confined space simulator.
The money for the mobile tower came from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant. The annually awarded grants are for critically needed resources to equip and train emergency personnel to recognized standards, enhance operations efficiencies, foster interoperability, and support community resilience.
Historically, the fire department has relied on donations of houses and other structure that were to eventually be demolished to use for training. Although the home donations are unpredictable and sometimes sporadic, even with now having the mobile tower, the homes are still needed.
The tower is currently housed at the DeKalb Municipal Airport, but can be dropped off at any of the department’s three stations to conduct training drills. Firefighters have not begun training in the mobile tower yet, but they will start in the coming weeks. DFD is looking for a permanent storage space for the tower, especially since it has to be stored indoors during the winter months.
DeKalb fire officials plan to allow other fire departments in the county to use the tower for training.
“Right now, DeKalb (county) fire departments, even though we work very well together, we don’t train together. This is really going to help us to strengthen that bond,” said Jeff McMaster, DeKalb deputy fire chief.
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