Fire Department Wins Grant from Federal Government

The Menomonee Falls fire department recently received a grant worth $207,900 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the funds will be used to purchase self-contained breathing apparatuses, Fire Chief Jeffrey Hevey said.

The purpose of FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant is to help communities throughout the United States purchase equipment and provide training for firefighters and other first responders.  FEMA first awarded the firefighter grants in May 2001.

Hevey said the department will use the grant money, along with funds from the village, to purchase 44 breathing apparatuses at approximately $5,400 apiece.  He expects the order to be completed by May 15 with an expected delivery date of no later than mid-September. Hevey said the fire department has already started to interview vendors. He said the department will purchase equipment that best meets the needs of the department, not necessarily the lowest bid.

“My firefighters are my No. 1 resource,” Hevey said. “It all boils down to protecting the firefighter, to make sure that when he or she comes to a call, they go home in good condition.”

The purpose of the breathing apparatus is to protect firefighters and other first responders against toxic atmospheres such as smoke, toxic gases and lack of oxygen.

According to Lt. Max Brunner, many of the current breathing apparatuses owned by the fire department are more than 15 years old. The most recent equipment was purchased in 2002, said Brunner, who has been with the department for 25 years.

The fire department has been able to make repairs of the items in-house. But the purchase of new equipment is greatly needed, Brunner said.

Hevey said the village allocated another $225,000 to purchase new protective clothing this year.

“The new protective clothing protects better than the old protective clothing,” Hevey said. “It will protect against the thermal heat that they might endure during a fire when the temperature ranges from 500 to 1,000 degrees.  This will be good gear that will serve us for a long time.”

The fire department first submitted a proposal to FEMA in 2009, but did not receive the grant that year. Hevey submitted a trimmed-down version of the grant proposal on May 28, and Menomonee Falls became one of 74 Wisconsin municipalities to receive a grant. According to FEMA, 1,780 grants were awarded to fire departments across the country this year.

“Generally the odds are that 25 percent of the applicants receive the grant,” Hevey said. “I cut it back a little bit, took a little fat off of it to make it more appealing. I think that probably helped a lot. There are some things I would have liked to have had, but I honed it down to the things we really needed.”