MJP –
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Friday that three local fire departments will receive part of a state grant, aimed at improving their facilities.
The New York State Volunteer Firefighter Infrastructure and Response Equipment Grant Program, introduced through the New York State Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, will provide funding to these agencies for necessary equipment purchases and renovations.
Among the over 50 recipients are the Churchville Volunteer Fire Department, Penn Yan Fire Department, and White Springs Fire Association. While each of these stations has an annual budget aimed at covering upkeep-related expenses, having additional funding could help immensely.
“The money from our budget goes towards keeping our whole operation running during the year,” Safety Officer of the Churchville Volunteer Fire Department Steve Gulvin said. “It doesn’t allow us any excess for additional or unexpected expenses”.
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Churchville will receive $45,500 from the grant, which Gulvin said will go towards replacing their on-site power generator. The agency has it in case of natural disasters or unexpected outages so that people from across the Town of Riga can shelter at the station without worry of losing electricity.
“The generator is 26 years old and it’s starting to fail, so we justified writing the grant to purchase a new generator that can run this whole building,” Gulvin said. “With it, we can provide services to the community such as warmth in the winter and food if need be”.
Penn Yan plans to use their $850,000 portion of the grant towards a structural addition to their station. There, they hope to store their over 200-year-old fire pump which currently takes up too much space on their apparatus floor bay.
“The trucks nowadays are a lot bigger than they were 50 years ago, so we’re completely out of space on our floor,” Penn Yan Fire Department Chief Derek Christensen said. “Hopefully getting this hand pumper in its own space will free up space so that we can rearrange some of our equipment and better utilize the floor”.
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White Springs Fire Association, located west of Geneva, also has big plans for how they plan to use their nearly $274,000 in funding.
“The rising costs of fire department equipment and maintenance of it has put a strain on volunteer departments budgets,” White Springs Fire Association Chief Jeffery McGuigan said. “This grant is going towards a new Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA), an SCBA fill station, and a chest compression device for CPR calls”.
The complete list of New York State Volunteer Firefighter Grant Awards can be found on the state’s.
