Federal funds a big help for a small fire dept.
Helmetta squad has received nearly $400K in past four years

HELMETTA - The borough's fire department will receive $92,750, mostly in federal funding, for a host of new equipment including breathing apparatus, turnout gear and portable radios.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will cover 95 percent of the grant, with the borough responsible for the remaining 5 percent, or $4,637, according to Helmetta Fire Chief Gregory Bennett.

The Assistance to Firefighters Grant will allow the purchase of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive (CBRNE) self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) with spare cylinders and face pieces, along with new fire-fighting turnout gear, portable radios, and training equipment and materials.

The fire department will be able to retire much of its current cache of SCBAs, which are more than 26 years old.

The grant will provide new turnout gear for 10 members. The gear will be custom-fitted for each member.

For the first time, the department will have portable radios for all riding assignments on the fire engines as well as a dedicated radio for any mutual aid department that serves as a rapid intervention team. The training equipment will be used to outfit the meeting and training room with audio visual equipment to be used when training firefighters, as well as for other firefighters and law enforcement officers.

The department's headquarters is recognized by the state Department of Community Affairs, Division of Fire Safety as a training facility. The new equipment will allow for better presentation of training materials.

This is the third competitive grant the department has been awarded by Homeland Security or the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the past four years. In total, the department has received nearly $400,000, Bennett wrote in a press release.

Prior grants were awarded for rapid intervention team equipment, a misting fan, gear, computer equipment, a backup generator for the fire station, fire station apparatus room ventilation system, ropes and rescue equipment, a thermal imaging camera, a new radio system with related equipment, defibrillators, carbon monoxide/gas detectors, brush truck skid unit, portable tank for the tanker, training DVDs, bail-out kits, training props such as smoke machines, and fluid and fire-fighting hoses.

"The receipt of these grants have been greatly appreciated, as the [department] is forced to operate on a limited municipal budget," Bennett said. The grants have allowed the firefighters to maintain their equipment so that it is compliant with federal standards. Previously, the department was not operating in substantial compliance with those standards.

"The ability of smaller departments to qualify for and receive these grants eases the tax burden on smaller municipalities while allowing the firefighters to have access to the safety equipment they so desperately need, yet may be unable to afford," Bennett said.

The fire department's operating budget for 2006 was just $26,000.

The Helmetta department has also been awarded U.S. Forest Service Grants administered by the state Forest Fire Service for the past several years. Those funds, which have served to keep the tanker and brush trucks in peak operating condition, do not require matching funds from the borough.

Bennett said the fire department is thankful to Mayor Nancy Martin and the members of the Borough Council for allowing it to apply for the matching grants.