By Rita Savard
The Lowell Sun
CHELMSFORD, Mass. — Firefighters’ expired turnout gear will be replaced thanks to a $73,000 federal grant.
The Assistance to Firefighters Grant will be used to replace all of the department’s turnout gear. U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas presented the check to the Chelmsford Fire Department on Tuesday.
Fire Chief Michael Curran said the National Fire Prevention Association sets safety requirements based on the date the gear is manufactured. Ten years is the maximum life of the gear.
“Our gear was well worn, more than a decade old,” Curran said. “The grant couldn’t have come at a better time because the town doesn’t have $80,000 to buy 50 new sets.”
The Groton Fire Department also received a grant of $175,279 to add new breathing apparatus equipment and emergency locator beacons for firefighter use in dense smoke.
“Competitive grant funds such as these help to maintain public safety in our community and are especially important given the constraints on state and local budgets,” Tsongas said in a prepared statement. “While no program is completely immune from cutbacks in these difficult economic times, the drastic underfunding of assistance to local firefighters threatens public safety and the ability of firefighters to access the equipment they need to do their jobs.”
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