Copyright 2006 P.G. Publishing Co.
By LEN BARCOUSKY
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania)
Butler firefighters are buying a fire-prevention training robot.
Kilbuck volunteers are replacing 30-year-old breathing devices that allow firefighters to carry their own air supplies in smoky conditions.
Springdale Township Volunteer Fire Department No. 1 is getting new helmets, coats, pants and gloves as well as a thermal imaging camera, which lets firefighters see through smoke.
The three departments are among fire companies large and small across Pennsylvania that shared last year in more than $39 million in federal money distributed through the Department of Homeland Security.
“I felt like we had just won the Super Bowl,” Kilbuck Fire Chief Jeff Fink said of the federal dollars. Much of his department’s equipment has been hand-me-downs from larger fire companies, he said.
The federal money is from the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, which came about after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The need to ensure that local fire departments have the equipment they need to respond to all kinds of emergencies became clear after the terrorist attacks, said Julia Wanzco, press secretary to U.S. Rep. Phil English, R-Erie, whose district includes most of Butler County. “We are living in a post-9/11 world, and Congress wants to make sure first responders have access to the resources they need,” she said.
Both volunteer and paid fire departments qualify for the federal money, and the grant process is competitive. Last year, nearly 21,000 applications requesting $2.7 billion in federal aid were received. The program funded about $620 million worth of requests from 5,500 fire departments and first responders.
The money is allocated through a unit of the federal government with an anaconda-length name: the Department of Homeland Security’s Preparedness Directorate’s Office of Grants and Training. The office works with the U.S. Fire Administration.
Grants are usually announced through the offices of members of Congress in whose districts the fire departments are located.
Fire departments have discretion in using the funds, which are available under three related programs. Grants can be used to improve operations, increase firefighter health and safety efforts, and to start or expand fire-prevention programs.
Fire chiefs and municipal officials say the dollars have been critical in helping their departments upgrade equipment and launch new programs.
Recent grants to departments in northern Allegheny County and southern Butler County will be used to buy everything from protective clothing to new vehicles.
Butler’s $51,626 will be used for a variety of purchases related to fire prevention. They include smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to distribute to city residents, and fire prevention books, pamphlets and videos geared to children.
One unusual education aid the department plans to acquire is an interactive robot that looks like a Dalmatian driving a fire truck. The department also will buy a trailer to transport the robot and other fire-prevention materials to schools and community events.
Much of the equipment will be delivered in the next six weeks.
Kilbuck’s purchases with its $94,227 grant included 13 self-contained breathing apparatuses, extra oxygen bottles and a system for refilling air tanks.
Springdale Township Fire Chief George Manning said the $60,716 federal grant will help protect his volunteers and residents in a number of ways.
The thermal imaging camera lets firefighters “see” through dense smoke, giving them another tool to locate unconscious victims. The camera, which also measures heat given off by overheated wires or smoldering wood, can help detect hidden fires.
The department also bought new radios that will allow the department to be dispatched by Allegheny County’s 911 system, a move that will save money for township residents, Chief Manning said.
The department’s new “turnout gear” -- coats, pants, gloves, hoods and helmets -- meets 2006 national standards for protective equipment, he said. Such equipment is not cheap. Jacket and pants cost $1,200, while fire-resistant gloves are $60 a pair.
According to lists released by Mr. English and U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart, R-Bradford Woods, other grants have been made recently to these departments:
* $54,564 to the Aleppo Township Volunteer Fire Co. for firefighting and personal protective equipment.
* $31,616 to Chicora Independent Hose Co. for operations and firefighter safety.
* $69,687 to Connoquenessing Volunteer Fire Department for operations and firefighter safety.
* $79,090 to East Butler Volunteer Fire Department for operations and firefighter safety.
* $230,850 to Leetsdale Fire Department for vehicle acquisition.
* $93,138 to Richland Township Volunteer Fire Department for personal protective equipment.
* $17,949 to West Deer EMS Inc. for personal protective and firefighting equipment.
* $91,789 for West Deer Volunteer Fire Department No. 2 for personal protective equipment.
* $50,597 to Wexford Volunteer Fire Co. in Pine for personal protective equipment and training.