West Orange FD Earns Federal ‘Assistance To Firefighters’ Grant

WEST ORANGE, NJ — The following news release comes courtesy of the West Orange Fire Department. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.

The West Orange Fire Department (WOFD) has been awarded a FY2023 Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (USDHS) in the amount of $74,490 for personnel training in specific subject areas relevant to Fire and EMS.

The WOFD operates under a limited training budget where funds are often not available to cover initial basic training for recruit firefighters, much less any additional instruction. The average personnel turnover through retirement in the WOFD is approximately four per year and requires approximately $7,500 for each firefighter/EMT basic training. Just this training alone depletes the Department’s entire training budget annually. The department is regularly looking for ways to fund training including grants such as the Assistance to Firefighters Grant. This grant will fund in-house training delivered to all personnel for an 18-month performance period.

“We are extremely pleased that FEMA once again recognized our needs with this award,” said West Orange Fire Chief Anthony Vecchio. “Every year, for training, we struggle and juggle within our budget. This grant will take some of the funding pressure off of our Training Division so we can schedule consistent and appropriate lectures and valuable hands-on programs.”

The AFG program requires a 10% match from the award recipient. The West Orange Township Council will be presented with a resolution to fund the 10% match when the funds are formally requested.

The West Orange Fire Department is a multi-faceted public safety agency located in Essex County, New Jersey. The WOFD provides fire protection, hazard mitigation, emergency medical services, fire prevention education and fire code enforcement to the community of West Orange and its neighboring mutual aid communities.

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