For Immediate Release: 10/17/2019 1:38 pm
The Worcester Fire Department (WFD) has been awarded $213,273 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) and Staffing for Adequate & Fire Emergency Response (SAFER) programs.
The funding, announced by U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Edward J. Markey (D-MA), along with Representatives James P. McGovern (D-MA), Richard E. Neal (D-MA), William Keating (D-MA), Katherine Clark (D-MA) and Seth Moulton (D-MA), will be used to purchase 23 thermal imaging cameras. This federal grant will allow the WFD to have thermal imaging cameras on every apparatus.
Thermal imaging cameras are used by firefighters at all building fires to help determine fire location and extension. The cameras are also used to search for victims and are a valuable self-rescue tool if a firefighter becomes disoriented in a building fire.
“In order to keep our city’s residents as safe as possible, it’s imperative that our firefighters have the latest technologies and safety equipment at their disposal,” said City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. “We thank FEMA and our congressional delegation for securing the necessary federal funds to outfit our firefighters with these vital thermal imaging cameras.”
“Thermal imaging cameras have become a very important tool for firefighters,” said Worcester Fire Chief Michael Lavoie. “This grant will allow all our fire crews to have a thermal imaging camera on the fire ground to enhance the safety of residents as well as their own safety, and will help mitigate incidents quickly and efficiently.”
