Berkshire County Fire Departments Awarded Safety Equipment Grants

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STOW, Mass. —The Healey-Driscoll Administration announced that 307 Massachusetts fire departments will share $5 million in grant funding to support the purchase of new safety equipment. 
 
"Massachusetts firefighters answer the call in every corner of our state and our job is to make sure they have what they need to do it safely," said Governor Maura Healey. "We're investing in the equipment that protects them on the front lines and strengthening departments in more than 300 communities so they can continue protecting all of us." 
 
In Berkshire County:
  • Adams Fire District: $15,455.00
  • Town of Clarksburg: $10,061.46
  • Dalton Fire District: $15,474.85
  • Town of Florida: $8,415.14
  • Town of Hancock: $7,320.73
  • Town of Lanesborough: $12,352.00
  • Town of Lenox: $12,465.00
  • Town of Monterey: $7,377.84
  • Town of New Ashford: $10,500.00
  • City of North Adams: $19,000.00
  • City of Pittsfield: $20,066.25
  • Town of Savoy: $9,972.00
  • Town of Tyringham: $8,079.81
  • Williamstown Fire District: $12,493.95 
  • Town of Windsor: $7,840.00
Fire departments across Massachusetts were invited to apply to the Firefighter Safety Equipment Grant program, which provides reimbursement on purchases of nearly 100 different types of equipment. Eligible items include hoses and nozzles, turnout gear, ballistic protective equipment, portable and mobile radios, thermal imaging cameras, hand tools and extrication equipment, hazardous gas meters, and more. In many cases, the purchase of this equipment will help departments attain compliance with Occupational Safety & Health Administration or National Fire Protection Association safety standards.  
 
"Firefighters face immediate danger at fires, structural collapses, hazmat incidents, and countless other calls," said Secretary of Public Safety & Security Gina Kwon. "They also face the insidious threat of occupational cancer from exposure to toxic gases and substances. The Firefighter Safety Equipment Grants support equipment to protect them from all these risks." 
 
"The Firefighter Safety Equipment Grant program funds the tools, gear, and equipment that our firefighters use to protect themselves, each other, and the residents of their communities," said State Fire Marshal Jon M. Davine. "It’s a smart investment in safety for the fire service and the Commonwealth."  
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North Adams Housing Trust Building Foundation for Future

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The newly established Affordable Housing Trust has spent its first meetings determining its mission, objectives and resources. 
 
What it has to decide is the chicken or the egg — set goals with the purpose of finding funds or getting the funds first and determining the best way to use them. 
 
"I think that funding actually would dictate the projects that we do, rather than come up with we what we want to do, and then find a way to fund it," said Trustee Ross Jacobs last Thursday. "There may be sources we explore that will be successful. Some may not. ...
 
"If we start exploring funding options and get some of these wheels rolling, then we'll have a better idea within six months where some of these are going, and then what we can do."
 
Trustee Nancy Bullett said it may be more of doing both at the same time. 
 
"It's almost simultaneous looking at the projects that are incorporating funding, because your funding is specific to whatever it is that you're doing," she said. "So how do you identify the projects that you want to work on, which then dictates the funding."
 
This will tie into the trust's objectives which could include home rehabilitation, property tax relief, emergency rent or mortgage, or support of projects undertaken by private or public developers like Habitat for Humanity. 
 
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