By Matt Curatolo
Watertown Daily Times
OGDENSBURG, N.Y. — The city will be applying for federal funds to help cover the purchase of a new mini-pumper that would be used for firefighters responding to emergency calls.
According to an approved resolution that was not on Monday’s City Council meeting agenda, the city will seek $452,900 in funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s 2024 Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) for a mini-pumper “quick attack apparatus.” If successful, the city’s share would be $21,566.
This is the second round of grants through the AFG this year. In March, the city sought $385,000 in funding to purchase a new boat that could assist firefighters in water rescue and firefighting operations.
Fire Chief Kenneth Stull said the AFG is highly competitive and based on firefighter safety.
With an aging fleet, the mini-pumper would allow the department’s older pumpers to stay off the road when firefighters respond to EMS calls, according to the fire chief.
A bonus is that firefighters can still fight fires with the unit.
“This mini-pumper is capable of fighting fire. It will have a 300-gallon water tank, 1,000-gallon-a-minute pump and will be able to actually use it to fight a structure fire so they would always be in a truck that has firefighting capability,” Stull said.
“The objectives of the AFG Program are to provide critically needed resources that equip and train emergency personnel to recognized standards, outfit responders with compliant personal protective equipment to increase responders’ physical protection against hazards during incident response, provide funding to retrofit or modify facilities to protect personnel from known health hazards, acquire emergency response vehicles, design and implement health, wellness and resiliency programs that prepare responders for incident response, enhance operational efficiencies, foster interoperability, and support community resilience,” the resolution stated.
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