Grant Will Help Dearborn, MI, Firefighter Upgrade Technology, Training

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded the Dearborn Fire Department a nearly $878,000 grant that it will use to buy new portable radios and other equipment and to fund specialized training.

The Dearborn department competed against many fire departments across the country for Assistance to Firefighters Grants. The grants help firefighters and other first responders obtain equipment, protective gear, training and other resources, according to FEMA. Dearborn officials announced the grant in a late August press release.

"We're ecstatic, very happy about it," Fire Chief Joseph Murray told The Detroit News. "It's gonna provide us with fundings for some much needed equipment."

Murray said the grant will be used to replace portable radios that firefighters use to communicate with each other and to buy new turnout gear extractors, which are large laundry machines used to wash the turnout gear firefighters wear in fires. The grant will also fund other initiatives, including technical rescue training and training for mass casualty incidents.

"I am proud to recognize Chief Murray and the entire department for receiving this highly competitive federal grant from FEMA for the 10th consecutive year," Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said in a release. "This vital funding ensures our firefighters have the resources they need to protect the community while keeping themselves and each other safe.” 

Murray said the radios allow the incident commander to know what the various crews are doing during a fire. He said the radios are around a decade old and noted that their manufacturer is no longer producing the radios, so "we can't get replacement parts."

The grant will also fund technical rescue training, which includes rescuing people from confined spaces, water and other high-risk situations. It will also fund training for mass casualty events, such as a large high-rise fire that displaces or injures many people.

This is the 10th consecutive year that the Dearborn Fire Department has been awarded a grant from FEMA. Murray said he thinks his department has been continuously successful in obtaining the money because it has over the past decade "really focused on data collection and making decisions based on data." He said his department can justify its needs based on data.

He also said the Dearborn Fire Department keeps its requests realistic and is asking for items that personnel use everyday in their jobs.

Dearborn was also awarded a FEMA grant a week ago for its smoke alarm installation program, he said. Under the two-year grant, FEMA is paying $132,000 and Dearborn is paying over $6,600. The smoke alarm program provides residents with smoke alarms and educates them about fire safety.

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