Hamilton Fire District No. 4 was awarded a grant in the amount of $140,908 from the Department of Homeland Security through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program, Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) announced today.  The grant will be used to purchase self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and a thermal imaging camera that can be used to locate downed firefighters caught in life-or-death situations in burning buildings.

“This grant will help protect those who are willing to put their lives on the line every day and to run into burning buildings to save lives,” said Smith. “This federal support will help them obtain more substantial equipment to keep them as safe as possible.”

Hamilton Fire District No. 4, headquartered on East State Street  in the township, has 16 career staff and 20 volunteer firefighters organized in platoons that protect a densely-populated, five-square-mile area that is home to 12,000 permanent residents, 178 commercial businesses and 28 major industries. The department logs nearly 1,000 calls annually and provides mutual support to the Township’s other eight fire districts as well as the City of Trenton.

The SCBA  gear with face pieces and air cylinders will replace or upgrade obsolete and/or damaged SCBAs.

Smith sent a letter to FEMA in support of the grant in April 2015. “A recent risk analysis found that all of the department’s current SCBAs are approaching or have far exceeded their recommended replacement dates leaving fire fighters potentially unprotected,” Smith wrote. “Therefore, upon receipt of this grant, all current SCBAs and cylinders will be taken out of service. Smith sent a letter in support of the grant in April 2015.”

District 4 Chief Thomas T. Gribbin, who worked with Smith on the grant, was excited about the federal funding.

"We would like to thank Congressman Chris Smith for his letter of support for the grant,” said Gribbon. “Throughout the years we have been successfully awarded numerous grants that in large part are due to the assistance that we have received by Congressman Smith."

The aim of the AFG grant program is to meet the firefighting and emergency response needs of fire departments and EMS organizations across the country. Since 2001, it has helped firefighters and other first responders to obtain critically needed equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training and other resources needed to protect the public and emergency personnel from fire and related hazards.

The funding comes through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) Operations and Safety Grant Program. It is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in cooperation with the U.S. Fire Administration. The purpose of AFG is to award grants directly to fire departments and non-affiliated Emergency Medical Services organizations (EMS) to protect both the health and safety of the public, and first-responder personnel as well. A competitive process overseen by fire service subject matter experts awards grants to applicants whose requests are aligned with the priorities of the AFG Program. For more about the FY 2015 AFG Program please visit http://www.fema.gov/assistance-firefighters-grant.

This is round five of the competitive FY 2015 fire grant announcements.

###