Fire Department Receives $37K Grant

U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. announced Thursday that the Department of Homeland Security has awarded a new federal FIRE Assistance to Firefighters Grant to the South Orange Fire Department. The $37,525 grant will help the fire department obtain thermal imaging devices, monitoring and sampling devices and hazardous materials equipment.

"The firefighters of the South Orange Fire Department will now have state-of-the-art technology available to them when they answer a fire call. They deserve nothing less given their responsibility of protecting their community that includes Seton Hall University," said Pascrell, who introduced the Firefighter Investment Response Enhancement (FIRE) Act in March 1999, in a press release. "The FIRE Act was written right here in the Eighth District, specifically to help communities such as South Orange support their first responders. The department put together an outstanding application and the results speak for themselves."

Fire Chief Jeff Markey, who was one of the congressman's advisors in drafting the FIRE Act, said the grant dollars would help the department obtain three thermal imaging cameras, as well as carbon monoxide detectors and hazardous material equipment.

Each of the department's three fire rigs will be outfitted with a new thermal imaging camera, Markey said.

"They are amazing pieces of equipment," said Markey, in a press release. "We can use them during search and rescue efforts to locate people trapped in a burning building. We can even pinpoint the location of a fire within a building."

This is third FIRE grant awarded to the South Orange Fire Department, which received two grants in 2004 totaling $209,000, according to a press release.

FIRE grants are awarded directly to local fire departments, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administers the AFG program, which makes direct grants to fire departments for equipment, training, firefighting vehicles and other fire fighting and fire prevention activities.