Firefighters Get Near $70K Grant For Coronavirus Protective Gear

EAST HAVEN, CT — The East Haven Fire Department was awarded almost $70,000 by the federal government as a reimbursement for money the town spent for "critical personal protective equipment and supplies needed to prevent, prepare for and respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency," Mayor Joseph Carfora and Fire Chief Matt Marcarelli announced.

The $68,819. 53 grant award is from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. East Haven was one of 50 fire departments nationwide in this round to receive grant funding through the agency's FY2020 Assistance to Firefighters Grant COVID-19 Supplemental program. This was the second highest award in Connecticut so far, Carfora said in a news release.

“Our department began to prepare early, and sourced our PPE ahead of the surge and not during it. You may recall that we worked closely with the Board of Finance and Town Council, at the onset of this pandemic, to provide an emergency funding source to acquire much needed PPE and supplies," Carfora said. "We wanted to make sure first responders had everything they needed to prepare for and respond to this pandemic as safely as possible”

The 2020 Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program – COVID-19 Supplemental is a
supplemental funding opportunity under the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. This is a competitive grant that is electronically scored, and then peer reviewed before moving onto funding.

East Haven has previously been awarded similar grant monies, nearly three-quarters of a million dollars, according to a news release, for a new fire truck for Foxon and new breathing apparatus and a compressor for firefighters.

The AFG-S Program represents part of a comprehensive set of measures authorized by Congress and implemented by the Department of Homeland Security. Traditionally, this grant has been a source of funding that once award departments could use for the selected project, but due to COVID-19 and the national PPE shortage this supplement grant could also be used for reimbursement.

“When our emergency funding source was approved, I assured the Mayor and Legislative Town Council that we would aggressively pursue funding sources to recoup unexpected expenditures. This grant pays 85 percent with a 15 percent cost share by the town, so we thought it prudent to compete for this before pursuing other federal sources that only provide 75 percent reimbursement,” Marcarelli said.

Support for this grant was provided by state Rep. Joe Zullo, U.S. Rep.
Rosa DeLauro and U.S. Senator Chris Murphy "who have been historic supporters of this grant program," Carfora said.