Gloucester Fire Department wins $400K grant for training

Gloucester’s firefighters will undergo significantly more training over the coming year if the City Council backs a low-level match for a $424,055 grant from the federal government.

Fire Chief Eric Smith said the new $424,055 grant, announced Thursday by U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey and by U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, will provide for extensive training for firefighters to operate the department’s ambulance and other emergency vehicles, to drive and run a pumper truck and to operate an aerial ladder.

“All of our people are able to drive vehicles and have gone through in-house training here,” Smith said. “But this can provide the extended training we have just not been able to afford — but have wanted to do — in the past. This will let us do a deeper dive into a lot of these operations that are so important, and it will let all of our people get up to national (firefighting) standards.”

The grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Assistance to Firefighters program has also delivered Gloucester money toward a new ambulance, new air-pack safety gear and new radio communications equipment since 2015.

Gloucester is one of just four Massachusetts communities to receive part of an overall $1.6 million in competitive grants in the latest round of FEMA funding for fire departments, joining Brockton, Millbury and Ware. The agency has awarded $32 million in firefighters assistance grants to communities across the state this year, and Gloucester has reeled in $1.7 million worth of firefighter assistance money since 2015, Smith said Thursday.

Like those in prior years, the latest grant requires a 10% — or $42,405 — match from the City Council. Smith said he’s optimistic the funding will get the backing.

“To get an opportunity like this for 10 cents on the dollar, that’s something I’d go for anytime myself,” he said.

Smith said the grant is expected to cover a five-day training program for pumper operations and a two-day program for aerial ladder work for up to 56 firefighters. Also, the department’s full roster of 66 in-line firefighters and supervisors should all be able to participate in the one-day training project for emergency vehicle operation.

“That’s specific to driving fire apparatus and other heavy equipment, like the ambulance,” he said.

Warren, Markey and Moulton also hailed the significance of the grants.

“I know what it’s like to go into harm’s way without the right equipment, like in those days in Iraq when we didn’t have the right armor for ourselves or our trucks,” Moulton said in a prepared statement. “We should expect better for the firefighters in our community. I’m glad these FEMA grants have come through, and I’ll keep working to make sure firefighters always have the gear and training they need to do their jobs.”

Smith said the city’s grant application — crafted by fire Capt. Jamie Santos and firefighters Sander Schultz and Allison Demuele — also included a request to fund a new pumper, priced around $850,000 and bringing the city’s overall request to beyond $1.25 million. The awards to Brockton and Millbury are both aimed at covering the purchase of new pumpers at more than $550,000 apiece, according to the FEMA announcement.

“We obviously didn’t get that,” Smith said of the pumper. “But this training is something that we’ve needed and something that’s been beyond our reach. It’s a great opportunity for us, and (the FEMA grant funding) continues to be a great program. We’re happy.”