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January 16. 2013 10:41PM
LONDONDERRY - The Londonderry Fire Department has been approved for a $44,976 federal Homeland Securities grant, fire officials announced this week.
During Monday night's town council meeting, fire Capt. James Roger shared details of the funding, which will be used to purchase high-tech security and safety equipment. Councilor Tom Dolan said the town applied for the grant early last year and received word of its approval earlier this month.
"This equipment we always knew would be needed but would be very costly for us to purchase. With the budget being very tight right now, we felt the best approach was going through this grant," Roger said. "We knew the process would be very competitive."
Forty Granite State communities applied for the grant last year and there were just seven recipients, fire officials said. About half of the grant will be used for the purchase of a MSA SAFESITE multi-threat protection system, an air-monitoring device that can be used in instances of multiple threats, including chemical warfare and radiation incidents.
"The use our local fire department has for this is incredible," Roger said. The device can be used in the event of a structure fire to transmit information from inside the building to a commend vehicle, he said.
"Using this machine, our incident commander can see what's going on inside," Roger said. "We can determine an area's atmosphere within a quarter of a mile."
The technology also makes the town compatible with the Southeastern New Hampshire Hazardous Materials District.
The remainder of the funds will be used to purchase a four-gas detector that detects toxicity.
"When we arrive on a call, we know something is flammable but we don't know how toxic it is," Roger said.
With many industrial facilities in Londonderry, ammonia and hydrant cyanide has potential to present a huge hazard during certain emergency calls, he said. Four new gamma-ray radiation pagers can be used on the town's 15 miles of highways to ensure further firefighter protection in an emergency.
Roger said the grant is paid 100 percent through federal funds, and the town is not required to make a match.
aguilmet@newstote.com
Londonderry receives federal fire grant
During Monday night's town council meeting, fire Capt. James Roger shared details of the funding, which will be used to purchase high-tech security and safety equipment. Councilor Tom Dolan said the town applied for the grant early last year and received word of its approval earlier this month.
"This equipment we always knew would be needed but would be very costly for us to purchase. With the budget being very tight right now, we felt the best approach was going through this grant," Roger said. "We knew the process would be very competitive."
Forty Granite State communities applied for the grant last year and there were just seven recipients, fire officials said. About half of the grant will be used for the purchase of a MSA SAFESITE multi-threat protection system, an air-monitoring device that can be used in instances of multiple threats, including chemical warfare and radiation incidents.
"The use our local fire department has for this is incredible," Roger said. The device can be used in the event of a structure fire to transmit information from inside the building to a commend vehicle, he said.
"Using this machine, our incident commander can see what's going on inside," Roger said. "We can determine an area's atmosphere within a quarter of a mile."
The technology also makes the town compatible with the Southeastern New Hampshire Hazardous Materials District.
The remainder of the funds will be used to purchase a four-gas detector that detects toxicity.
"When we arrive on a call, we know something is flammable but we don't know how toxic it is," Roger said.
With many industrial facilities in Londonderry, ammonia and hydrant cyanide has potential to present a huge hazard during certain emergency calls, he said. Four new gamma-ray radiation pagers can be used on the town's 15 miles of highways to ensure further firefighter protection in an emergency.
Roger said the grant is paid 100 percent through federal funds, and the town is not required to make a match.
aguilmet@newstote.com
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