By Jodi Weigand
The Valley News-Dispatch
ALLE-KISKI VALLEY, Pa. — Seven fire departments in the Alle-Kiski Valley will be able to replace aging gear and air packs thanks to recently awarded federal grant money.
The volunteer fire departments are New Kensington, Upper Burrell, Brackenridge’s Pioneer Hose, West Deer Company No. 2 and No. 3, Vandergrift No. 1 and Lower Burrell No. 1 (Kinloch).
Each received a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Assistance to Firefighters program.
The grants total nearly $1.2 million. Each department must provide 10 percent of their grant in matching funds.
The primary goal of the program is to help firefighters and other first responders obtain equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training and other resources.
Pioneer Hose Co. Chief Rick Jones said the $68,000 grant the departments received will replace their 12 air packs.
He said the department bought the breathing apparatus used from another department and they’re at least 20 years old.
“They have to be certified every so many years, and they get costly to repair,” Jones said.
He said this is the first time the department has gotten a FEMA grant in the 17 years he’s been chief.
“I’m very excited,” Jones said. “I don’t know how we would have afforded to replace them if we didn’t get it.”
New Kensington Assistant Fire Chief Ed Saliba Jr. said they applied for a departmentwide grant. The $441,000 the department is getting will benefit each of the city’s five fire companies.
The money will be used to replace all 52 breathing apparatuses, which includes the tank, harness and mask; and 36 sets of gear, which includes coat, pants, boots, gloves, helmet and a hood.
The breathing masks are 14 years old, just one year shy of the recommended replacement date, and the gear is about 10 years old.
Breathing apparatus cost about $7,000 each, and a set of gear is about $3,000, Saliba said.
He said without the grant money, the department couldn’t afford to buy this much equipment at once.
“For us to spend that kind of money, we’d basically go broke,” Saliba said, “because on top of that we have vehicles to maintain, rescue tools to maintain and upgrade, and everyday expenses.
“What we will be purchasing will be an upgrade to what we currently have and be able to provide good protection for the firefighters and for the people we’re there to help.”
Applying for a departmentwide or regional grant appears to have been a common way to seek money.
Ted Hereda, Lower Burrell (Kinloch) Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 chief, said the federal government encouraged multi-department grants.
“The more product you buy, the better price you get,” he said.
“It’s easier for the government to approve one large grant rather than five or six individual ones — especially if it’s in the same area,” said Bryan Fitch, chief of the Upper Burrell Volunteer Fire Department.
West Deer Volunteer Fire Company No. 3 applied for a regional grant for its department, West Deer No. 2 and Richland and North Hampton volunteer fire departments.
The $436,000 grant will be divided between the departments based on the amount of gear that each needs to replace.
“We were all faced with the same need at the same time,” said Jim Wiegand, chief of West Deer No. 3. “Finances are tight, and, with the cost of the equipment going up, budgets buy less and less.”
Upper Burrell VFD applied for the grant along with Kinloch.
Their $145,000 grant will buy 28 full sets of turnout gear for each department.
Fitch said their current gear is about 12 years old.
“(The grant) saves us from having to get a loan or spending money that we could use on other equipment,” Fitch said.
Tom Schaeffer, chief of Vandergrift Fire Department No. 1, said that without grant money his department wouldn’t be able to afford to replace its 14 breathing apparatuses. The department received about $99,000.
“The ones we have now were purchased with a federal grant in 2002,” he said. “It’s a nice program.”
Copyright 2016 The Valley News-Dispatch