LINCOLN – Two fire districts in Lincoln, along with the Rhode Island Fire Academy, will share more than $300,000 to purchase essential equipment, U.S. Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and U.S. Reps. James R. Langevin and David N. Cicilline said Wednesday.
The funding is made available through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program.
The Lime Rock Fire District will use its $82,440 share for 30 sets of firefighter turn out gear (firefighting suits, boots, and helmets) to equip its 20 full-time firefighters and 10 part-time firefighters, housed out of two fire stations, covering approximately 12 square miles.
The Albion Fire District will use its $121,753 federal grant to buy 17 self-contained breathing apparatus to replace aging air packs and masks. The district comprises five full-time firefighters and 21 part-time firefighters.
RIFA will use its $86,597 grant to purchase new gear, such as ladders, hoses and other safety equipment to assist in the basic training and specialized courses of RIFA’s curriculum and to purchase a self-contained breathing apparatus FIT testing system to ensure volunteer fire departments and students are proficient in SCBA use. The academy is operated through the Office of the State Fire Marshal.
“It’s critical that our firefighters have the equipment and resources they need to do their jobs as safely and effectively as possible,” Cicilline said in a statement. “These grants will provide long-overdue upgrades to critical equipment and allow our firefighters the chance to train at a higher level. I am proud that Lime Rock, Albion and the Rhode Island Fire Academy have been awarded this critical federal funding, and I look forward to continuing to work in Congress to support FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program and bring these essential resources back to Rhode Island.”
Since 2001, Rhode Island fire departments and other first responders across the state successfully secured more than $27.3 million in AFG awards, funding equipment upgrades, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training and other resources.
