Fire station gets $100K

By Jessica Willis, Berkshire Eagle Staff
Article Last Updated: 02/28/2008 04:07:33 AM EST


Thursday, February 28
GREAT BARRINGTON — The Fire Department will use a $102,915 U.S. Department of Homeland Security Grant it received recently to purchase a vehicle exhaust removal system and protective clothing, Fire Chief Harry Jennings said.
It is the fourth federal Assistance to Firefighters Grant, or "Fire Grant," that the town has received in the past six years.

Summer 2009 completion

Jennings noted that the latest award comes at a time when the department is getting ready to build a $9.5 million fire station on State Road. The project, now in its design phase, is a month away from going out to bid. The new station is slated to be completed in the summer of 2009.

U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., helped secure the grant. The Fire Department is one of seven in the county — and one of 87 in the state — to receive Fire Grant funds during the 2007 cycle.

Two major requests

The grant, which provides equipment, protective gear, vehicles and training to firefighters and other first responders, will save money for taxpayers, Jennings said, adding that, in the past seven years, the Fire Department has made two major capital requests that


were funded by taxpayer dollars: a $40,000 Chevrolet Tahoe in 2004 and a computer system, also $40,000, in 2008. Taxpayers approved the funding for the fire station at a special town meeting last year.
Most of the department's purchases have come through the Fire Grants, Jennings added.

When the town received federal grants in 2002, 2003 and 2005, the funds were used to purchase air packs, clothing and a new fire truck, he said. The last grants totaled $117,000, $136,000 and $16,300, respectively.

"We've done very well," Jennings said.

Anthony Blair, chairman of the Select Board, and Burke E. LaClair, town manager, helped write the grant last March.

LaClair said the $68,000 exhaust removal system is a "much-needed item." The unit mounts to the fire trucks and removes dangerous diesel fumes from the air when the vehicles are running inside the fire station.

Moreover, the exhaust removal equipment won't have to be "retrofitted" when the station moves from its location on Castle Street to its spacious digs on State Road.

"It wasn't one of the largest grants, but it was ideal (timing) in terms of the budget process," LaClair said.

In an e-mail statement, Kennedy wrote, "These funds will enable the Great Barrington Fire Department to purchase state-of-the-art equipment and respond more effectively to fire emergencies.

"We're proud of the courageous and dedicated men and women of the Department for their extraordinary service, and they eminently deserve this federal assistance