By Tony Dobrowolski
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Pittsfield Fire Department has received a $313,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that is intended to improve the city’s emergency response communications infrastructure, Fire Chief James C. Sullivan Jr. said.
The funding, part of the Federal Assistance to Firefighters Grant, represents 90 percent of the project’s total approved cost of $347,803. The city of Pittsfield has contributed the remaining 10 percent. The City Council will consider the acceptance of the federal grant at its next meeting on Tuesday.
The city had applied for the federal funding in fiscal 2006, Sullivan said.
“It takes a year to go through all the steps to get the money,” he said.
Sullivan said the bulk of the federal funding will be used to make emergency radios digital and interpretable, standards that are currently required by the federal government. He said some of the funding also will be used to upgrade Pittsfield Police Department communications facilities.
Access in case of emergency
The federal funding also will allow the Fire Department to allow firefighters responding to emergencies instant access to chemical databases that can provide information on the presence of substances, such as sulfuric acid, that are located in burning buildings, Sullivan said.
Three radio consoles in the Fire Department’s communications center that are more than 30 years old are also scheduled to be replaced.
“They are in dire need of replacement,” Sullivan said. “This is a great benefit to the city.”
Sullivan said Deputy Fire Chief Mark Cancilla, who wrote the grant, was instrumental in the department obtaining the funding.
“I am really pleased that Chief Sullivan and the Fire Department are continually looking at grant opportunities to help upgrade the communications infrastructure as well as the Fire Department’s infrastructure,” Mayor James M. Ruberto said.
“This grant provides the opportunity for significant upgrades in communications links that link into the public safety area,” he said.