Firefighters Receive Federal Grant for Ventilation Project

By Andrew Gorosko

The Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company will receive almost $90,000 in federal grant money for ventilation improvements at its Riverside Road firehouse, plus firefighter safety and training projects.

The Sandy Hook firefighters will receive $89,329 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds to be matched by $9,925 in funds raised by the fire company in the overall $99,254 program.

Sandy Hook Fire Chief Bill Halstead said this week the bulk of the money will be used to acquire and install a ventilation system for the firehouse. The fumes that are exhausted by diesel-powered fire trucks, while they are running inside the building, will be captured and routed out of the building via hoses, ductwork, and ventilating fans. The system is designed to prevent air quality problems in the firehouse. The building houses seven fire trucks.

Chief Halstead estimates that the firehouse ventilation system will cost approximately $70,000. The chief said that he expects that such air quality equipment will be a future requirement at firehouses. It is unhealthy for fire trucks to exhaust diesel fumes into a firehouse, he said.

Sandy Hook fire officials will be meeting with construction contractors to select a firm to make the ventilation improvements, the fire chief said. The improvement work will be done later this year.

Other grant money will be used to buy 26 air masks for individual firefighters, Chief Halstead said. Those full-face air masks are used in conjunction with the compressed air tanks that firefighters carry when working in smoky conditions. Each firefighter will have his or her own individual air mask, instead of using an air mask from a common supply of masks, Chief  Halstead said.

The grant money also will be used to acquire two air systems to be used by fire pumper truck operators at fires. Those systems will allow the firefighters who operate the water pumpers on pumper trucks to breathe fresh air through a mask which is linked to an air supply on the fire truck.

Remaining grant money will be used for new training equipment for firefighters, Chief Halstead said. Sandy Hook firefighters are in the process of renovating the Riverside Road firehouse for improved training facilities.

In the past, Botsford and Newtown Hook and Ladder firefighters were recipients of FEMA grants for fire-related expenses. Botsford received funds to create a firefighter fitness center on the upper level of the Botsford Firehouse. Hook and Ladder receives money to acquire new firefighting equipment and training materials.

In the current round of FEMA grant awards, Sandy Hook was among six fire departments in the state that received an overall $1.15 million in federal grants. Across the United States, 114 fire departments received more than $9 million in grants.

The grant program is designed to help local fire departments buy firefighting equipment, pay for firefighter health and safety programs, and conduct fire prevention and safety programs.