HEATHER CASPI
Firehouse.Com News
Recipients of the 2001 FIRE Act grants are now in various stages of
spending and development on the projects that they acquired the money
for.
Between July 23 and September 30, 2001, FEMA awarded 1,855 grants to
fire departments and 31 grants to fire service organizations, for a
total of 1,886 grants worth $96,586,668.
Now several months later, some departments have spent nearly every
cent while at least one department has not even been able to claim
its grant yet.
The Downey Fire Department in L.A. County, CA has spent almost all of
their $138,529 grant and made all the preparations for a new regional
training program.
"Everything has been purchased or scheduled," said Capt. Darren Moon.
"Why wait to spend the money?"
The Downey Fire Department will facilitate an area-wide program that
will include training for fire control, hazmat, rapid intervention
crew, and confined space rescue.
Moon said that acquiring and spending the grant money has been an
easy process. He said the money was promptly direct-deposited into
the department's bank account, and they will have spent all of it by
June, once the ordering process is completed for their new fire
simulation trailer.
"It's been an absolute pleasure to spend the federal dollars," Moon said.
All of the computers and other equipment have been ordered, and
people have already been scheduled to attend the new training classes.
Moon said he is already looking forward to writing the application
for the next round of grants.
The Upper Arlington Fire Division in Ohio is also well on their way
to setting up a regional training center with the $68,552 they were
awarded.
"We're right smack in the middle of things right now," said PIO Dan
Kochensparger.
Kochensparger said one of the first things they did was establish a
repository for all the paperwork involved in obtaining and spending
the money, so none of it would get misplaced during all the
excitement.
The department has already ordered and received some of its new
equipment including several laptops, a 36-inch computer monitor for
the classroom, fire simulation software, a digital projector, a
DVD/VHS player, and a digital camera.
They are currently making arrangements for personnel to get the new
training office into operation at the department's central station,
which has classroom and outdoor training space.
The PIO said there will be no grand opening for the training center,
but that the resources will be utilized as they become available.
Kochensparger said they still have a lot to spend because they are
still pricing equipment and making final decisions, but plans should
be finalized by the end of January. They expect to order a portable
roof ventilation unit, a generator, a forcible entry training
station, and possibly a trailer to transport the materials. They also
might outfit a reserve engine with equipment exclusively for training.
Some departments are making preparations, but have not yet touched their
money.
Assistant Chief Ulie Seal of the Minneapolis, MN Fire Department said
their $700,000 grant is still intact.
The department will use the money to replace their out of date SCBA
units with 200 to 250 new units. However, Seal said they are still
writing the specs for the equipment. They expect to finish that
within the next six weeks, go to bid, and award the bid by March,
Seal said.
As for getting the money, "Everything was an extremely smooth
process," Seal said. He said it was obvious that FEMA officials want
the program to go well because they are spending a lot of time with
the recipients, answering questions and making sure everything is
understood.
While most departments agreed the grant process has been smooth, a
few ran into unforeseen snags.
Deputy Chief Bill Phelon of the Westfield, MA Fire Department said
they had a problem to solve before they could use their $225,000 fire
prevention grant.
The money is intended to outfit an old, 61-unit housing project with
sprinklers. The complex of 15 buildings is home to a large number of
children and continues to be a location of more fires than other
areas of the city.
However, it turned out that the water supply to the complex wouldn't
enough to accommodate the sprinklers, so they needed to have
additional lines installed. Now the department is writing up bid
documents for the sprinklers to put out by Jan 30, and the bids will
be due back the second week of February. Phelon said they hope to
start installing the sprinklers in March.
In addition, Phelon said that because of the sprinkler code, it turns
out that they will also be required to put in fire alarms, which they
are now working into their plans.
Phelon said the department loved the grant process although they
found the paperwork a bit cumbersome. He said they look forward to
applying this year over the internet.
At least one fire department is facing an even bigger snag.
The Battle Creek, MI Fire Department had unexpected difficulty
acquiring the 30 percent matching funds required under the
application guidelines for professional fire departments. Volunteer
departments are required to match 10 percent of the grant funds.
The Battle Creek department still needs to raise about $130,000
before they can claim their $466,986 grant to install tamper-proof,
lithium battery smoke detectors in all of the 25,000 residences they
cover.
Chief Larry Hausman said a couple of leads for the donation with
local foundations fell through, but they are tapping other sources
and hope to settle the issue within 45 days.
FEMA officials said they expect all the 2001 grant money to be out of
their hands by August, and that recipients have a year to spend the
money.
