Liberty firefighters receive FEMA grant

By John W. Goodwin Jr.

The department has received the grant four of the last five years.

LIBERTY — Township firefighters will get a little help on the job thanks to a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The department will receive $29,073 through FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant, Fire Prevention and Safety program. The funds will be used for purchases in operations and safety.

Fire Chief Michael Durkin said the money will be used for training in the department and purchasing new equipment.

The department will purchase two new thermal-imaging cameras used for finding people in smoke-filled buildings, two devices used to check the air quality and gas levels in buildings, 1,000 feet of new fire hose, two new ventilation fans and four new fire hose nozzles.

Durkin said the department has been awarded grant money through the program for several years. Each year, Durkin and a grant writer compose a detailed proposal seeking funds for the township.

“This is the fourth time out of the last five years that we have received the grant. We apply for it every year, and I guess we just luck out,” he said.

The department’s luck lessens the tax burden for those living in the township, Durkin said. Items purchased with the grant funds would need to be purchased from the fire department general budget if the money were not made available through FEMA.

“This has been extremely beneficial because we would have to do these things anyway, and we just don’t have the money to do it,” he said. “Your budget is just enough to keep fixing what breaks, let alone purchase all those new items.”

As an example, Durkin points to a $56,000 diesel emission system purchased through the program several years ago. He said the system, too costly for purchase outside of the program, reduces the chance for firefighters to contract cancer from exhaust fumes in the fire stations.

The program awarded $829,464 to local fire departments and organizations in Ohio. Nationally, awards will provide about $500 million to fire departments and nonaffiliated emergency medical service organizations throughout the country.

“The Assistance to Firefighters grant programs are the result of a major effort by the federal government to ensure the provision of a solid foundation for local fire and emergency response services. These grants help to ensure the nation’s firefighters have the basic tools and resources necessary to safely perform their responsibilities — and therefore to ultimately save lives and continue to protect all residents from fire,” Greg Cade, administrator of the United States Fire Administration, said in a news release.

jgoodwin@vindy.com