Burlington Township Fire Department received over $78,000 in federal funds to upgrade safety equipment and to provide physicals to its firefighters, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-Hamilton) and Burlington Twp. Fire Commission officials announced today.

    The grant, totaling $78, 617, will be used to install a system to proactively protect firefighters from cancer-causing diesel exhaust in Relief Fire Station #303 and to support the health and wellbeing of the volunteer firefighters in Burlington Township by covering the costs of their physicals. 

    Burlington Twp. Fire Commissioner Paul Vincent said they were happy to receive the news that Burlington Twp. Fire Department was awarded the grant.

    “Without this grant we would not have been able to fund these very necessary safety items vital to our firefighters’ health and well being,” Vincent said.

    Smith—who sent a letter of strong support of the funding to the Department of Homeland Security—said, “The Burlington Township Fire Department wants their firefighters—the vast majority of whom are volunteers—to work in a safe environment and this federal grant will help make that possible. The exhaust system will be able to capture diesel exhaust, thus reducing the health risk to the firefighters from this cancer-causing substance. In addition, the ability to provide physicals for the firefighters will also help to prevent heart attacks, the number one cause of death for firefighters.”

    Smith also called the grant an “acknowledgement of the Fire Department’s commitment to continuously improving the vital services that they provide to their community.”

    Burlington Twp. Fire Commission Chairman Tony Ciasca noted the importance of federal funding to the department’s ability to carry-out its responsibilities saying the grant “enables the department to keep firefighter health and safety at the forefront of our priorities.” 

    Over 99% of Burlington Township firefighters are volunteers. Three volunteer fire companies cover the properties in a 14.72 square mile area, including residential, commercial and industrial sites. They also respond to incidents on the three major highways that intersect the town, the New Jersey Turnpike, I-295 and New Jersey Route 130, as well as the Conrail/NJ Transit rail line.

    The funding was obtained through the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grants Program. The primary goal of the Assistance to Firefighters Grants Program is to meet the firefighting and emergency response needs of fire departments and nonaffiliated emergency medical services organizations.