Fire departments from Lynn, Lynnfield, Marblehead and Nahant were awarded grants to upgrade personal-protective and safety equipment that is not in compliance with National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards.
The grant will allow for the purchase of more than 100 types of equipment including hoses, decontamination equipment, crisis-management software and thermal-imaging cameras.
State Sen. Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn), and Reps. Peter Capano (D-Lynn), Daniel Cahill (D-Lynn), Lori Ehrlich (D-Marblehead), Bradley H. Jones Jr. (R-North Reading) and Donald Wong (R-Saugus) worked to obtain this funding through the Firefighter Safety Equipment Grant Program coordinated by the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services.
“Our firefighters deserve the most advanced personal-protective and safety gear,” said Capano. “These grants will ensure that they have the best equipment to keep them safe when they need it most.”
The Lynn Fire Department will receive $50,000; Lynnfield will receive $15,944.79; Marblehead will receive $18,828.90 and Nahant will receive $6,168.12.
“Every day, firefighters put themselves at risk to protect our communities,” Crighton said. “It is crucial that we supply them with top-notch equipment that allows them to do their job as safely as possible.”
Cahill said the service and sacrifice of all first-responders is appreciated, and it is necessary that “we help supply our firefighters, who risk their lives on a daily basis, with the most up-to-date safety equipment.”
With firefighters putting themselves at risk protecting the public each and every day, Wong said they need to have the most advanced and best protective gear to safely do their job.
This grant program, which was made available as part of a 2020 bond bill known as An Act Financing the General Governmental Infrastructure of the Commonwealth, was designed to provide resources that help keep firefighters safe from immediate line-of-duty dangers like fire and smoke, as well as longer-term health risks, such as chronic diseases and injuries from repeated exposure to hazardous materials and debris.
“Firefighters put their lives on the line to keep us all safe and should be protected in the line of duty with state-of-the-art equipment,” said Ehrlich. “This funding will help ensure that firefighters have the proper equipment they need to stay safe as they work to protect us.”
Grant awards are based on several factors, including the size of the population that the fire department serves and if their current equipment is unusable or unrepairable to meet current compliance standards.
“With this grant funding, Lynnfield will be able to make critical public-safety upgrades to ensure the protective equipment used by its firefighters is in full compliance with the latest industry standards,” said Jones. “Firefighters face many on-the-job hazards while protecting the public, so it’s important we do everything we can to help make their jobs safer.”
