Berkshire Communities Receive Firefighter Equipment Grants

Print Story | Email Story
STOW— In Berkshire County, 17 communities were awarded Firefighter Safety Equipment Grants to be used to purchase equipment.
 
This program enables fire departments to purchase a variety of equipment that will make firefighters' jobs safer. This is the second year that funding has been awarded for this purpose as part of a $25 million bond bill filed by the Baker-Polito Administration to support firefighter safety and health in the coming years.
 
"Our communities and families depend on firefighters in difficult and dangerous moments," said Governor Charlie Baker. "This program is an opportunity to show our deep appreciation for their work by ensuring they have the tools they need to stay safe and healthy."
 
The Baker-Polito Administration awarded $5 million in grant funding to 306 Massachusetts fire departments from the FY22 Firefighter Safety Equipment Grant Program.
 
Berkshire County Recipients:
  • The Adams Fire District: $15,399.24
  • Cheshire: $4,212.18
  • Clarksburg: $10,483.60
  • Florida: $10,500.00
  • Great Barrington: $15,498.00
  • Lee: $15,500.00
  • Lenox: $7,005.94 
  • Monterey: $10,500.00
  • New Ashford: $10,500.00
  • North Adams: $19,000.00
  • New Marlborough: $10,500.00 
  • Otis: $10,500.00
  • Peru: $10,182.00
  • Pittsfield: $20,075.40
  • Richmond: $10,290.00
  • Sheffield: $5,492.44 
  • West Stockbridge: $6,071.00
 
Fire departments in Massachusetts were able to apply to this program for 118 different types of eligible equipment, including personal protective clothing, gear washers and dryers, thermal imaging cameras, assorted hand tools and extrication equipment, communications resources, hazardous gas meters, fitness equipment, and more. In many cases, the purchase of this equipment will help departments attain compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Administration or National Fire Protection Association safety standards.
 
"The toll that occupational cancer has taken on the fire service is unfortunately immense," said Secretary of Public Safety and Security Terrence Reidy. "We often see and hear about heroic rescues in the face of obvious and overwhelming danger, but the risks firefighters face go well beyond those events. I am thrilled that we can provide so many fire departments with this funding for equipment that will reduce firefighters' long-term exposure to the cancer-causing materials they encounter every day at work."
 
$5 million in grants were awarded in total. A complete list of the awards by department can be found here.

Tags: fire department,   firefighting equipment,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Pittsfield BOH Condemns Two Homes

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Two more Pittsfield homes have been condemned.

The Board of Health voted Wednesday to condemn 86 John St. and 224 Fourth St. It came with a pang of sadness about demolishing homes during a housing crisis and a conversation about prevention.

"I would think many years ago this property had flowers in front of it," Chair Roberta Elliott said about the John Street home. "It was not like this."

Another member said it feels like capital punishment to the properties.

Both homes have no owner or heir who wants to take responsibility for them. The city has 43 open condemnation orders — about 20 residential.

"The condemnation can be as simple as no running water, no electricity," Code Enforcement Office Andrew Gagnon said. "So it is a spectrum of severity."

The four-bedroom John Street property has been sitting since 2018 and the Fourth Street multifamily has been subject to break-ins despite being secured and deemed unsafe by the Fire Department.

"It's unfortunate that so many properties on John Street have had to meet the wrecking ball," Gagnon said.

View Full Story

More Pittsfield Stories