The Springfield Township Fire Department was selected as one of 347 departments nationwide to receive federal grant dollars earmarked for first responders, officials announced Friday.
The department will receive $90,884 from the Fiscal Year 2006 Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) awarded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Of Springfield’s total award, $75,830 will fund an exhaust removal system to make breathing easier in both of the townships fire stations when trucks are routinely started inside the bays.
‘We have to get them going every morning when we come in, make sure they go into gear,’said Springfield Township Fire Chief Charles Oaks, acknowledging that breathing the exhaust fumes is unpleasant and potentially dangerous, but unavoidable. ‘We just open the doors and hope we get some fresh air in here.?
The new equipment, he said, will attach to the exhaust pipes of the trucks and alleviate the problem.
The remaining funds, $18,987, will be used for the purchase of a new air compressor to fill the Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus tanks firefighters use when they enter a burning building.
‘The old ones are designed for a low pressure system,? Oaks said. ‘So they’re quite slow.?
The Assistance to Firefighters Grants program was established in 2001, and has since provided $2.4 billion in grants to fire departments and first responder organizations across the country for equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training, and other resources to protect the public, as well as emergency workers, from fire and related hazards.
In 2003, Springfield received the grant to help pay for new radios.
The township is responsible for paying 5 percent of this year’s $90,884 award, but that money, said Oaks, was allocated in the fire department’s budget when he applied for the grant.
All funds must be used according to the award specifications within 12 months of the Feb. 2 notification, and any remaining balance must be returned.
The Department of Homeland Security said additional phases of the AFG will be announced soon, with a total of $485 million in AFG grant awards to approximately 5,000 fire-related organizations nationwide.
‘Emergency response is inherently local, and these resources support those who serve us all, our nation’s firefighters,? said Under Secretary for Preparedness George Foresman in a release distributed to media outlets. ‘By building emergency response capability through training and first responder equipment, the AFG program is helping to strengthen readiness throughout the country.?