Fire Department in NJ Gloucester County to Receive Self-Contained Breathing Apparatuses

Federal Grant Eases Taxpayer Funding of Replacements

New York, NY — Firefighters of the Harrison Township Fire District #1 will be receiving 30 state-of-the-art, self-contained breathing apparatuses as the result of an Assistance to Firefighters Grant.

The AFG award totals $183,000 and was announced here today by Dale McShine, Director of Grants for Region II of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which administers the Region’s AFG program.  She said the federal share of the grant comes to $174,286.  The award will become effective today.

“The new SCBAs will replace 30 older models that are obsolete and will no longer be supported by their manufacturer. The new units will provide breathable air to the District’s 40 firefighters, the majority of whom are volunteer,” said Brian Bartholomew, the Fire District’s Business Administrator.

He said the District covers some 20 square miles with a population of roughly 14,000, adding that his District responded to some 370 fire calls last year.

“These SCBAs wear out over 15 to 25 years and need either to be totally replaced or are in need of parts, a responsibility that falls to the local taxpayers,” Bartholomew pointed out.  “So, this grant not only provides safe firefighting equipment that benefits both our residents and our firefighters, but also relieves our taxpayers.”

Bartholomew said that this AFG means that his District will have new, safe equipment for “a number of years, and that we won’t have to be repairing each SCBA on a piecemeal basis.”

FEMA’s Dale McShine said that in 2013, Assistance to Firefighters Grants provided funding of almost $22 million to the 192 fire departments and EMS agencies throughout Region II, which includes New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

“These grants assist emergency agencies,” she said, “and we know that they provide safety and protection to entire communities.  We are very pleased to be part of that process.”

For further information, please contact William H. Douglass at FEMA 212-680-3665 or 917-561-3223.

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