Saugus FD pairs with other departments for funding bid

SAUGUS – Fire Chief James Blanchard has set a lofty goal teaming up with three area fire chiefs and going after a Homeland Security grant that could net the department a lot of green.The funds, however, would be earmarked specifically for upgrading the station’s radios.Over the last four years, every fire department in the Boston metro area has switched radio bandwidth to a new frequency with the exception of Saugus, Lynn, Melrose and Malden.”We’re all very cash strapped communities,” Blanchard said. “We just couldn’t afford to do it.”While it sounds simple, Blanchard said the switch would entail installing new radios in every vehicle as well as the main console. He estimates that would cost about $300,000, which would easily double for a city the size of Lynn.Saugus needs the upgrade because the current frequency only broadcasts incoming calls from Lynn, Malden and Melrose unless there is a portable radio handy.”I hear the calls come in because I have a portable,” Blanchard said, adding that there are other portable radios as well, “but we really need to go to the new system.”To try to rectify the situation, Blanchard said the four chiefs have worked closely together in seeking a grant that would fund the switch and put everyone in the area on the same bandwidth.While he feels confident that the group fits the criteria for the grant perfectly, he said it’s never that simple.”The big buzz topic is ‘inter-operability,'” he said. “Homeland Security likes it if everyone can talk to each other freely because it makes it easier for us to respond to incidents.”And that’s exactly what the four communities are looking for. While they can interact with each other, they cannot interact freely with Revere, Chelsea, East Boston or even Wakefield unless they have a portable radio.Blanchard said the communities’ locations are another point in their favor. With fuel trucks moving in and out of Revere and East Boston and a large LNG terminal nearby, Blanchard said a grant based on inter-operability should be a given.”Will we get the grant?” Blanchard asked. “Who the hell knows? If I were grading it I’d say it’s a slam dunk, but you can never count on that.”Blanchard said that is what makes grant writing so frustrating. Just this week he found out four other grants he had filed were turned down. Yet a few years ago Blanchard said he was shocked to receive a grant to buy a new fire truck – one he said he never thought the department would be eligible for.”It’s so frustrating but you have to fill them out because you need to and sometimes you’re shocked and you do get it,” he said. “That is the impetus for me to keep doing this as disappointing as they are.”Blanchard said he should hear whether the group will get a Homeland Security grant by late summer.”And if, worst case scenario, we don’t get it, we’ll rework it and write it again,” he said. “We won’t give up. It’s like baseball – you strike out more than you hit home runs but sometimes you do hit the home run.”