Posts Tagged U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program

Plainfield Fire Protection District news

Aug 22

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The Plainfield Fire Protection District is pleased to announce that we received a grant through the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant in the amount of $361,454.55 for the purchase of new self contained breathing apparatus that firefighters wear while fighting fires. The fire district is required to add $36,145.45 towards the purchase for a total amount of $397,600. The grant funds will be used to purchase 56 SCBA units which are lighter weight, have increased air capacity, and with advancements in technology, have a better overall design to enhance firefighter safety. The fire district is grateful to be awarded this grant.

Tags: Plainfield Fire Protection District, U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program

Sycamore Fire Department news

Aug 14

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Excerpts from the daily-chronicle.com:

The Sycamore Fire Department was awarded a $218,534 federal grant for the replacement of the department’s self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) through the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program.

The grant award of $218,534 covers approximately 65% of the total estimated cost, $338,116, of the replacement of 31 SCBA. The City of Sycamore is responsible for the remaining 35% of the cost of the project, which will be approximately $119,581.

Tags: fire department receives grant, Sycamore Fire Department, U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program

La Grange Fire Department news

Jun 29

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Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

The La Grange Fire Department has been awarded $309,000 through the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. The grant will be used to help purchase new portable radios. Their current radios are well past their service life, with some models no longer supported for service or repairs.

The Assistance to Firefighters Grant program provides needed federal funds to fire departments and emergency medical service organizations in order to improve the response capabilities of our nation’s ~~first responders~~ emergency personnel and the safety of our communities.

Tags: fire department receives grant, La Grange Fire Department, U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program

Pembroke Fire Protection District news

Oct 3

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Excerpts from the Daily-Journal.com:

On Tuesday, the 12-man Pembroke Fire Protection District learned it received $346,159 in federal funding through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. It was one of eight Illinois fire departments, including Kankakee, to received federal funding totaling $2.6 million.

Pembroke received two separate grants. A SAFER grant will be used to certify volunteers and add 16 firefighters during the next four years. It also pays for stipends, turnout gear, insurance, health physicals, and certificates for higher learning.

“We want to get more community members involved in our fire department,” Fire Chief Mark Baines said. “We are excited. This will help us certify our guys and add more to our staff. It will prepare them if they ever want to pursue a full-time job as firefighters.”

The other grant will purchase a new $91,000 brush truck. It will be the first new brush truck the department has ever had.

Earlier this year, one of the department’s brush trucks got destroyed in a fire. Neighboring departments have since assisted the department in rebuilding its 25-year-old brush truck, which blew out an engine a few years ago.

“We’ve been trying to get a new brush truck for four years,” Deputy Chief John Sokol said. “We’ve been fighting brush fires with equipment that’s 10 to 25 years old. This will be big for us. Once we get that old truck back, we’ll have two trucks to deploy.”

Tags: Assistance to Firefighters Grant, Deputy Chief John Sokol, Fire Chief Mark Baines, Pembroke Fire Protection District, Pembroke FPD receives grant, U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program

Lemon Fire Protection District news

Jul 8

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Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

The Lemont Fire Protection District has been awarded a grant through the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. Lemont will receive $36,364 to help purchase a sprinkler system for one of their fire stations.

The Assistance to Firefighters Grant program provides needed federal funds to fire departments and emergency medical service organizations in order to improve the response capabilities of our nation’s ~~first responders~~ firefighters and the safety of our communities.

Tags: Department of Homeland Security's Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, Lemont Fire Department, Lemont Fire Protection District, Lemont FPD receives grant, U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program

Mount Prospect receives SAFER grant

Aug 21

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | 1 Comment

Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:

Now that Mount Prospect Fire Chief John Malcolm has accepted a $1.3 million grant from the Department of Homeland Security to restore staffing reduced in 2010 following the recession, he is moving ahead with hiring.

The grant will pay the salaries and benefits for six firefighters, and put the engine at Station 13 back into service. If the hires are veterans, the grant could extend an additional year for each one. Two are veterans, Malcolm said.

Reflecting on the cuts made in the wake of the recession, Trustee Paul Hoefert acknowledged they had to make hard decisions.

“To a person at that time, on the sitting board, it was said that when we could those would be the first staff positions that we would want to get back in place,” he said. And this SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) grant is helping us to do that.”

thanks Dan

Tags: Department of Homeland Security's Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Fire Chief John Malcolm, Mount Prospect FD receives federal grant, Mount Prospect FIre Deoartment, Mount Prospect FIre Department, Mount Prospect receives SAFER grant, U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program

Fire departments receive federal grants

Aug 16

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | 8 Comments

Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:

Mount Prospect’s fire department could have its staffing restored to 2010 levels, thanks to a $1.3 million federal grant that would allow the village to hire six additional full-time firefighters. But now village officials face the challenge of paying for the new hires once the two-year grant ends.

At Tuesday’s joint meeting of the village board and the finance commission, Mayor Arlene Juracek and trustees gave Fire Chief John Malcolm the signal to accept the grant.

Although the grant brings benefits, it also poses challenges, as outlined by Acting Village Manager David Strahl. At the end of the grant period, the full cost of the additional personnel will amount to $922,000 during 2018.

Strahl suggested funding options for 2018, including pre-funding through the property tax, using reserves, boosting ambulance fees, and increasing the business license fee from $75 to a minimum of $100, with the fee based on overall square footage, to more accurately reflect the cost of a fire inspection.

Additional revenue could be generated by charging for responding to a fire, something that is done on the West Coast, although no departments in the immediate area do so, he said.

Besides providing funding for six more firefighters, the grant would allow the department to promote three current firefighters to the rank of lieutenant and reinstate Engine 13. That engine, based out of downtown Station 13, was put out of commission in 2011 as a result of budget cuts. With Engine 13 out of service, the department has been using a tower ladder to respond to routine calls.

Excerpts from MySuburbanLife.com:

… the Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded a $216,667 grant to the East Joliet Fire Protection District for operations and safety. The funding is provided through the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, which seeks to strengthen the nation’s overall level of preparedness and ability to respond to fire and fire-related hazards.

Tags: East Joliet Fire Department, East Joliet Fire Protection District, East joliet FPD receives federal grant, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Fire Chief John Malcolm, Mount Prospect FD receives federal grant, Mount Prospect FIre Department, U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program

Sycamore fire department updates

Jun 19

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Sycamore fire department receive federal grant

Excerpts from the DailyChronicle.com:

The Sycamore Fire Department has received a $35,620 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to purchase 16 new sets of protective clothing.

A news release states that U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin announced the grants this week for nine organizations including fire and emergency medical services across the state, totaling $866,923 between them.

The grant covers 95 percent of the estimated $37,400 price tag of the new gear, according to the release. The clothing it is replacing is more than 10 years old. National Fire Protection Standards state that protective clothing must be replaced when it reaches 10 years old, regardless of the clothing’s condition, Sycamore fire officials said.

The funding was provided by the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, which has provided about $5.25 billion since 2001 in federal funding across the country to help organizations afford new equipment, personal protective equipment, training and vehicles, according to a news release.

Sycamore approves contract with firefighters

Excerpts from the Dailychronicle.com:

The Sycamore City Council on Monday approved a four-year contract with Sycamore’s 26-member firefighter union.

By a 6-0 vote the council approved the contract that includes a 2.25 percent pay raise this year and next, and a 2.5 percent increase in 2017 and 2018. The new contract, which will cost the city about $2.2 million each year until it expires in 2019, also includes a system that caps the number of firefighters that responds to shift recalls during the day at 11, a no-layoff clause, and a retirement health care funding plan.

Mayor Ken Mundy said the contract includes “a couple of nice features that encourages self-investment in the unit” for retirement.

“All of us need to do more than our pension, or whatever plan we’re working under through our employer, to be sure we have funds set aside for retirement,” Mundy said. “Both sides worked together in a real respectful and honorable way to come to some middle ground and some agreement on the four-year contract. We’re very pleased.”

The approved deal mirrors deals made earlier this year with the Sycamore’s two other unions – the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 133 and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3957.

“All three of our bargaining units have been very good about reasonable requests for increases through some tough years,” Mundy said.

Tags: Federal Emergency Management Agency, SAFER grant, Sycamore approves contract with firefighters, Sycamore Fire Department, U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program

North Chicago receives federal grant

Jul 30

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From the Lake County News-Sun:

The oxygen tanks firefighters use to enter burning buildings or when smoke conditions outside are dangerous are essential — and North Chicago’s Fire Department is celebrating because it can finally replace its old ones.

“Our old equipment was from 2002 and it was so obsolete that we couldn’t repair it. They no longer made the parts for it,” Fire Chief Dell Urban said.

This week the department announced it had obtained 30 new self-contained breathing apparatuses, a significant upgrade over the old equipment, with the help of a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant. They also got a new Cascade system, which refills the bottles.

“The new ones have built in safety provisions and they increase our air from 30 minutes to 45 minutes so we have more time for search and recovery,” Urban said.

They will also have emergency oxygen bottles for when a firefighter gets trapped inside a structure that gives rescuers 60 minutes of air time.

The equipment cost $195,000. The federal share is 90 percent or $175,500, while the city has to cover 10 percent of the cost or $19,500. The North Chicago City Council approved its share last week.

The grant money came from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, administered by FEMA in cooperation with the department’s United States Fire Administration.

Each breathing apparatus bought with the grant money will include a high-pressure, 45-minute air bottle, breathing regulator, frame, harness, full face piece, and a spare bottle. The new equipment is expected to have a 10-year service life.

thanks Dan

Tags: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Fire Chief Dell Urban, North Chicago Fire Department, U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program