In the News

WILLIAMSBURG -- Local firefighters will soon have access to newer, lighter air packs and other updated safety equipment thanks to a $46,000 grant the Federal Emergency Management Agency recently awarded to the Williamsburg Fire Department. 

Town Administrator Charlene Nardi and Fire Chief Jason A. Connell joined U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, in announcing the $45,623 Assistance to Firefighters Grant during a Thursday morning event at the department's North Main Street station.

Nardi said the federal funds will allow fire officials to purchase six self-contained breathing apparatus units, replacements for those units and face masks for each individual firefighter.

The new equipment, she said, will enhance firefighter safety, as well as reduce the risk of contamination caused by sharing such masks.

"We are very appreciative of the grant," she said. "We are very appreciative for our fire department members, who worked very hard to get this grant. This will make a difference for us as a small department."

Connell said the grant represents a culmination of the department's five-year push to replace outdated air packs.

Deputy Chief Daryl Springman said some of the air packs set to be replaced by the grant are more than 15 years old. 

"As you can imagine, firefighting technology has changed and it's very difficult for small communities like ours to keep up with the changing standards. So this new equipment is really bringing us up to the new (National Fire Protection Association) standards ... We're replacing 2001 air packs with air packs that are smaller, lighter, a little bit higher pressure, they're much easier to use and they have a lot of safety features on the air packs that we did not have in 2001 when be bought the old ones," he said. 

Neal stressed the importance of ensuring firefighters have up-to-date equipment, noting that the FEMA grant program was established after six firefighters were killed in a Worcester blaze.

"The advances in technology and the advances in science have allowed now for these air packs to be much more sophisticated ... it now not only, with a new air pack, 30 percent more oxygen, but there's a warning system that's built in," he said. "I think that's important."

The Williamsburg grant is the latest FEMA award Neal and other members of Massachusetts' congressional delegation have announced in recent weeks. 

Neal, who has faced criticism from some Williamsburg-based groupsover his representation of the hill towns, offered that the event is similar to others he's held.

"You do your job. This is indicative of what I've tried to do. I think you want to define your career based on achievement and accomplishment. These are the regular things that I do ... across the district," he said in an interview.

Fire Departments in Gloucester, Westfield, Shrewsbury, Boston, Orange, East Longmeadow, Middlefield, Swampscott, Northborough, Walpole and South Yarmouth, among others, have also been awarded funding through the FEMA grant program.