COLD SPRING – It was just a year ago when U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer visited Putnam County with news for the region’s emergency responders.
Standing in front of the Cold Spring Fire Department headquarters with a number of fire officials at his side, Schumer announced a plan that would save Uncle Sam’s main firefighting programs—the Assistance to Firefighters Grant and staffing for the Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Program both of which were at risk of being eliminated.
Representatives of the Cold Spring, North Highlands and Continental Village Fire Departments were on hand along with Cold Spring Police officials.
On that late afternoon, Schumer described fire departments as the “backbone of America whether they are paid or volunteer by rushing to danger, risking their lives to protect our safety since Benjamin Franklin established the first volunteer fire department in the United States.”
The senator charged that “political smoldering in Washington had threatened funding for the two major programs that expired last September charging, “It makes no sense to cut aid for firefighting and I have been sounding the alarm for months.”
Things often move slowly in Washington and on Tuesday, the U.S. Senate finally joined the House of Representatives by approving the Fire Grants and Safety Act sending it along to President Biden to be signed into law.
During a news conference, Schumer called firefighters the “best of our communities. They rush into danger every day to protect us putting all else aside to help those in need.”
Schumer said he was “proud to have led the charge to passage which preserves the federal lifeline for funding for our fire departments to purchase equipment to keep our communities safe.”
According to the senator, in the past three years, Hudson Valley firefighters have received more than $23 million in aid, with $15.5 million earmarked for Putnam and Westchester.
Steve Sherman, vice chair of the Philipstown-North Highlands Board of Fire Commissioners, said they are “all hard-working volunteers who work and train in order to keep our community safe. We want the best dedicated people responding to alarms, having the most up to date equipment. Equipment is getting more and more expensive while volunteers are getting extremely difficult to find.”
