$109,00 Grant Awarded to Fire District #1....
 
Yesterday afternoon, Wednesday, February 9, 2011, the Tinton Falls Fire District No. 1 was contacted by Congressmen Smith and Holt that the fire district will be awarded a Federal Fire Grant in the amount of $109,000 to purchase personal protective gear for the all volunteer firefighting force of the district on Friday morning. We were also notified by New Jersey American Water Company that we are also being awarded a grant in the amount of $1,000 towards the purchase of an AED (Defibrillator). The Fire District, which is made up of the Wayside Fire Company and the Pine Brook Fire Company, covers the southern parts of the Borough of Tinton Falls and answers over (425) emergency calls annually covering a large residential area, commercial area and major roadways such as the Garden State Parkway/State Routes 18,33,36 & 66.

The personal protective gear, also known as "firefighter turn-out gear", is the most important equipment a firefighter is issued to perform their job from fighting fires, working at motor vehicle accidents to the daily operations at emergency scenes. As well as being the most important piece of equipment a firefighter has it is also the most expensive and consistently a very hard item to fund in the quantities needed. A full ensemble of gear for one firefighter costs several thousand dollars and compound that with the (65) volunteers in the district it becomes very costly to fund all the other aspects of the fire department operation in addition to the purchase of this gear. This gears life span can stretch no more than (10) years but typically needs replacement every 3-5 based on the damage the gear receives in the normal operation at emergency scenes and training sessions.

After a long grant process which was scored through a computer scoring system, reviewed by peers in the fire service and funding sought through the Department of Homeland Security the fire district was awarded the grant to fund the following items:

(45) sets of turnout gear which includes firefighter pants/jackets
(35) helmets
(35) sets of boots
(50) sets of gloves
(50) nomex firefighting hoods

Without this funding it would be impossible to replace all of the aging, used gear as this grant will enable the fire district to make theses replacements without adversely affecting the fire district budget.



Thomas R. Wieczerzak
Fire Commissioner
Tinton Falls Fire District #1
2 Volunteer Way
Tinton Falls, NJ 07753
732-493-1574-Office
732-493-1579-Fax
thomas@wieczerzak.net