Fairfield Firefighters Get FEMA Grant For More Than $200K

Via the Town of Fairfield: FAIRFIELD, CT — Fairfield First Selectman Mike Tetreau and Fairfield Fire Chief Denis McCarthy are pleased to announce that U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal visited fire headquarters Friday to discuss the importance of a $216,364 FEMA Assistance Firefighters Grant that he helped secure for the Fairfield Fire Department.

Joining Blumenthal were Tetreau, McCarthy, Deputy Fire Chief Kyran Dunn, Fairfield’s firefighters and department staff, as well as Trayvonn Diaz from U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy’s office and Will Haskell from U.S. Rep. Jim Himes’ office. Murphy also helped secure funding for the grant.

“Fairfield Fire and EMS first responders’ diligence and dedication saves lives. By investing in this necessary equipment, we are enabling more proactive and preventive fire protection. The AFG program is a critically important federal program helping those who help us. I will fight to ensure future funding remains intact for the benefit of our firefighters and their communities,” Blumenthal said.

The Fairfield Fire Department was among a handful of communities in the state to receive funding from the federal grant program, which was created to protect the health and safety of the public and firefighting personnel against fire and fire-related hazards.

“I am very appreciative of Senator Blumenthal coming to Fairfield today to make this important announcement. I want to thank both our Senators, including Senator Chris Murphy, as well as Congressman Himes, for their tremendous support of the Fire Service Grant programs that enable our brave and dedicated firefighters to stay safe and protect our residents,” Tetreau said.

The grant enables Fairfield’s fire department to purchase 24 self-contained breathing apparatus and a high-pressure compressor unit to fill the air bottles. These SCBAs are worn when firefighters enter atmospheres or environments that are by definition “immediately dangerous to life and health” to extinguish fires, to rescue trapped victims, and to contain hazmat emergencies. The new SCBAs will replace obsolete apparatus. The new high-pressure compressor unit will replace a 28-year-old unit. The new compressor fills the compressed-air tanks that are part SCBAs with filtered air. The new compressor will refill these cylinders at 4,500 psi safely and will track cylinder hydrostatic test dates.

“The SCBA must be maintained at the highest level of service because the firefighter’s life depends on it. This grant permits the Fairfield FD to meet our obligation to firefighter safety with the most reliable and protective equipment available so they can meet their commitment to public safety,” McCarthy said.

In addition to the AFG grant, the Fairfield Fire Department has also recently received a Port Security Grant in the amount of $121,000.

“These federal grant awards would not be possible without strong federal leadership to fund the grant programs and local support for maintaining the equipment necessary for our life safety missions. Additionally, since this grant represents over 200 percent of the Department’s annual capital budget, it gives the Department the ability to keep up with other capital equipment acquisitions,” McCarthy said.