HERMITAGE, Feb. 11 – State Rep. Mark Longietti, D-Mercer, announced that 15 fire and EMS companies in the 7th Legislative District have been awarded $217,235 in state grants.

“First responders in our community step up and answer the call tirelessly, carrying out critical public safety duties despite constant funding challenges that strain resources and complicate their work,” Longietti said. “It’s my hope that by helping companies with the cost of equipment, training, building repairs and other immediate needs, this funding will keep these frontline heroes safe and make their jobs just a bit easier.”

Longietti said the following fire and EMS companies will receive grants in these amounts:

• Clark Volunteer Fire Department – $15,000.
• Farrell Volunteer Fire Department Inc. – $14,651.
• Greenville Fire Department – $15,000.
• Greenville Fire Department (EMS) – $8,325.
• Greenville Volunteer Fire Company – $15,000.
• Hermitage Volunteer Fire Dept. Inc. – $15,000.
• Patagonia Volunteer Fire Dept. – $15,000.
• Sharon Fire Department – $15,000.
• Sharpsville Volunteer Fire Department – $15,000.
• Shenango Township Volunteer Fire Department – $15,000.
• South Pymatuning Township Volunteer Fire Association – $15,000.
• Transfer Volunteer Fire Department – $15,000.
• West Middlesex Volunteer Fire Department – $15,000.
• West Salem Fire Department – $14,259.
• Wheatland Volunteer Fire Department – $15,000.

The grants are made possible by the Fire Company and Emergency Medical Service Grant Program, which is administered by the Office of the State Fire Commissioner.

The grants can be used for facility construction and renovation, purchase or repair of equipment, fuel purchases, member training and certification, public education, recruitment and retention, debt reduction, overtime costs associated with backfilling positions while firefighters are training, and supplementing pandemic-related expenses.

Additional information, including a link to the full list of awardees, is available here.

The Fremont (NE) Fire Department is just about ready to put in service its new $571,000 Rosenbauer Engine 132, reports fremonttribune.com.

The purchase of the apparatus—which is larger and has more modern features than its predecessor, a 1995 E-ONE—was approved by city council in September 2020.

During its building process last June, department officials traveled to inspect the chassis before the truck’s body was built, the report says. They traveled back in January to conduct a final inspection a month after its completion.

The apparatus was delivered to the station on January 26, before equipment was installed. Officials hope it will be ready in the next couple of days. Crews are already training on it.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol is investigating a four-vehicle crash that involved a Wayne Township fire truck and a semi, reports wcpo.com.

Officials say the apparatus was en route to a structure fire in Adams County around 4:30 p.m. Sunday when it collided with a semi at the intersection of Routes 32 and 136 in Winchester.

There’s no word as to how the other two vehicles were involved. All injuries are said to be non-life-threatening.

The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Board of Directors recently approved a plan for Con Fire to apply for upwards of $5 million in grants for a firebreak project, reports danvillesanramon.com.

The CCCFPD Lafayette/Walnut Creek Shaded Fuel Break project aims to further the Moraga-Orinda fire district’s efforts to protect against southern wildfire threats, the report says. That district finished its 16-mile, $6.3 million firebreak in 2021.

This plan is to extend from where that project left off and go another two miles in Moraga, into Lafayette, up through East Bay Parks, and around in a horseshoe manner around Rossmoor, officials say. The break would extend another 12 miles and protect approximately 10,000 residents, the report says.

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The tree canopy formed by healthy trees would remain mostly intact, according to the report, but brush would be removed around trees from the ground up to six feet, and the break would be 100 feet wide.

Officials say the grant application will be sent Wednesday, and, if approved, the requisite environmental studies and permits would begin right away; the project is expected to take two to three years.

Con Fire also says that much of the exterior work on Bay Point’s Station 86 project is done and workers are currently painting the interior, the report says. Grounds work is about to commence, and officials note crews could occupy the building by fall.

The environmental approval process for Pacheco’s Station 9 has been hindered by drainage issues, according to the report.