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NEW BRITAIN – More than $700,000 in grant money will help make local firefighters safer while they battle blazes in the city.

FEMA grant for over $700K will allow New Britain firefighters to be trained in safety and survival

The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Friday presented city officials with a check for $710,156 that will allow every New Britain firefighter to be trained in safety and survival. The money will also be used for bailout kits and an electronic personal accountability system.

“We’re so grateful for this,” Mayor Erin Stewart told a FEMA representative outside the safety training tower on Stanley Street. “This is going to go such a long way. An opportunity to supplant city funds for training our fire department is a win for the city.” 

Peter Towey, assistant fire chief in New Britain, said the training firefighters will undergo will allow them to increase their ability to save themselves if they should run into an issue during a fire. The bailout kits, he said, include a rope and a hook that can be used to lower a firefighter down a window and to safety, rather than having to potentially jump out of a second-story or higher window should they become trapped or need to evacuate without a direct line to the first floor.

The electronic personal accountability system, according to Towey, will allow the incident commander at structure fires to view on a display where each firefighter is. This will aid in identifying firefighters who have run into an issue and to locate them quicker, he added.

“We’re happy about the support from the city and the mayor,” Towey said of city officials pursuing grants like this. 

Without this grant, Towey continued, the city would struggle to find funding for the training and equipment that are now both possible.

Unfortunately, Stewart said, when budget cuts are necessary, things like training and equipment are usually among the first things to go. The FEMA grant, she said, will make both firefighters and New Britain residents safer during fires.

Stewart also said city officials are hoping to secure another grant that will help New Britain fire 11 more firefighters, in addition to the four that were hired in August. Should the city secure the grant, Stewart said, it will help fill the 15 vacancies the department had been facing.

Justin Muszynski can be reached at 860-973-1809

Posted in New Britain Herald, New Britain on Friday, 30 September 2022 12:33. Updated: Friday, 30 September 2022 14:40.

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