POUGHKEEPSIE –The City of Poughkeepsie’s Fire Department is getting federal money for additional staffing. Funding to pay for the firemen was announced on Thursday by Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney (D, NY18)
Maloney, center, with city, county officials
The grant was issued through FEMA’s SAFER Program, or Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response. The federal funds will be matched by the city. In total, the department will receive over $1 million to pay for the seven additional full-time firefighters.
Maloney said that the grant isn’t a safety net for the department, or a contingency but, that it is necessary funding because the department currently is not meeting National Fire Protection Association regulations for on scene staffing.
“The minimum number of guys who are supposed to respond is 15, right now, you’ve got 12,” said Maloney. “That means when somebody is missing in a building or, somebody is trying to feed hose into their fellow firefighter, somebody isn’t standing there who should be. It’s obviously a safety issue for the public but, it’s a safety issue for the folks who do this difficult work and so we need a minimum number of people responding to emergencies and that minimum number is 15. This will allow us in the City of Poughkeepsie to have that number. That’s very important and it’s why we need to keep this funding flowing, not just through federal grant programs but, permanently.”
Fire Chief Mark Johnson said they had been turned down for similar grants
several times in the past and it is a great contribution to the safety
of the city.
“Grants like these are essential to provide the resources needed to maintain emergency service, at proper levels, to protect our city safely,” said Johnson.
Poughkeepsie is not the only recipient of the SAFER funding either. Earlier Thursday, Maloney was in Newburgh announcing the funding their city’s fire department received for a new fire boat.
Officials in both cities see their respective funding as a great benefit to one another when it comes to utilization of shared services.
