Grant funding for new fire department air packs approved

The Springfield Fire Department will soon replace self-contained breathing apparatus equipment dating back to the early 2000s, with the help of capital grant funding.


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2016-09-14 / Front Page Grant funding for new fire department air packs approved By TORY JONES BONENFANT toryb@eagletimes.com SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Fire Department will soon replace self-contained breathing apparatus equipment dating back to the early 2000s, with the help of capital grant funding. The Springfield Selectboard voted 4-0 at a regular meeting on Monday, Sept. 12 to approve up to $14,000 in capital fund appropriations for a 5 percent match of a potential $200,000 grant to replace self-contained breathing apparatus for the Springfield Fire Department. The packs the department is using now were purchased roughly 15 years ago through grant funding, according to Fire Chief Russ Thompson. “I thought we’d put ourselves really too tight to the dates, and that was going to put us in peril,” Thompson said. However, the grant timing is “really working out for us,” he said. The fire chief said the town will have two grant cycles to offset the cost of new apparatus. The $14,000 figure is a “worst-case scenario,” as the estimated cost of the new equipment is not final yet, Thompson said. “It is nothing but positive opportunity … We stand a very good chance to be awarded a grant,” he said. Selectboard Chair Kristi Morris, in disclosure, mentioned that he is a firefighter for the town, but that he receives no financial or personal gain from voting as a board member on the capital fund request. Selectboard member Walter Martone motioned to accept the request, with a second by selectboard member Stephanie Thompson. All voted in favor.