Homeland Security Awards $188,000 Grant to Middletown Fire Department

A U.S. Department of Homeland Security grant of $188,290 will enable the to upgrade its mobile communications and dispatch systems, plus streamline communications with Middletown’s state-of-the-art Police Department.

Citing efforts to improve Rhode Island's emergency response preparedness, U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and U.S. Rep. David Cicilline on Wednesday announced that two Rhode Island fire departments had won the federal grants. Besides Middletown, the East Providence Fire Department will receive $380,052 for specialized equipment and training for a Rapid Intervention Team, according to a press release issued by the Congressional delegation.

Middletown's grant will help pay for new high-frequency 800-MHz mobile radios to go in each of the Fire Department’s 10 emergency vehicles, along with a modern  dispatch system at the fire station, Chief Ronald Doire said Wednesday.

The $188,290 federal funds will cover 95 percent of the total upgrades, while Middletown’s share will amount to $9,910, he said.

“It’s equipment that we eventually would have to purchase down the road at full price,” Doire said. “The base radio we have at the station is 20 years old. It’s old technology and it works, but for one thing, we’re unable to record … If the caller gives information and it was inaudible to the dispatcher and the caller hung up, you’d want that playback. That’s one big part, or one of the immediately obvious benefits, of the new technology.”

This was the second time the had applied to the highly competitive Assistance to Firefighters Grant program for the two projects.

Doire credited Middletown firefighter Jonathan Reese for his “major role in the research and development” of the latest application’s success.

The new technology also will bring the Fire Department’s two-way mobile communications in line with the high frequency radios now utilized by the , Doire said.

The Newport Fire Department is also in the process of upgrading to the 800 MHz frequency, so when either department is providing mutual assistance, the two departments will be able to communicate, Doire explained.

The VHF bands will remain in all vehicles along with the new 800 MHz radios so that Middletown firefighters can continue to communicate with other area fire departments that have not yet made the upgrade, such as Portsmouth, he said.

The new equipment will likely be up and running in about four months, Doire said.