ATHOL — Fire Chief Joseph Guarnera announced this week the town has secured a grant which will go a long way toward updating its fleet of fire trucks. The grant was awarded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency AFG (Assistance to Firefighters Grant) program.
“So, that grant is for $621,000,” Guarnera said. “Of that amount, $605,000 is for a new apparatus, and the rest goes toward training — emergency vehicle operation training. Of the total of the grant, the town is responsible for five percent.”
Landing the grant, Guarnera said, is no small honor.
“The (Assistance to Firefighters Grant) is the toughest grant there is,” he told the Athol Daily News. “As far as getting apparatus, it’s the toughest. They don’t give out much apparatus at a couple hundred thousand dollars. So, we were one of very few departments in the country that got apparatus.”
Guarnera explained his application for the grant had to detail exactly how the new truck would benefit the community generally, the fire department specifically, and improve overall safety.
“The apparatus we have is just totally outdated,” he said. “It’s not NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) compliant. The NFPA is like the governing body of the fire service, and they dictate recommendations. If you go to court, their recommendations are looked at as standard operating practices.
“The NFPA says no frontline piece of apparatus should be any older than 10 years old. Any backup apparatus should be no older than 15 years old. And a spare piece — which you would use when everything else is broken, temporarily — should be no more than 25 years old.”
The vehicle Guarnera will replace with the new pumper truck is 44 years old.
“The NFPA states that anything more than 15 years old is deemed unsafe and shouldn’t be on the road; shouldn’t even be driven. It could be a parade piece or something a collector buys, but should not be an apparatus for responses.”
The chief went on to point out another AFD apparatus is more than 23 years old “and will be non-compliant within another year.” The department’s newest piece, according to Guarnera, is 13 years old; “so that one’s OK.”
“So, the town really should get two pieces of apparatus,” he continued. “I was only able to get one, so hopefully next year the town will purchase one. And then we should be good for another 20 years.”
He said much of his budget is eaten up simply trying to keep his fleet running.
“You know, we have mutual aid agreements with other towns around us, and ‘mutual aid’ means just that — mutual aid. They help us, we help them. And we have other departments covering us all the time because our apparatus is always out of service because of the age.
“So, being able to purchase a vehicle is very, very important. It’s going to be life-saving. We’ll have an apparatus that is up to date with all NFPA standards, new equipment on it — because all the equipment we have is all outdated, also.”
The chief said a study committee was put together about a year ago to determine what kind of vehicle and equipment would best serve the needs of the town. He added that the grant requires the town to get the new pumper into service within a year of the grant’s award.
“So,” he said, “we knew exactly what specifications we needed for the job we do. All that groundwork has already been done. We were lucky enough to get this grant, so we’re ready to go forward and purchase this vehicle. We’re very happy about it.”
As a result, Guarnera concluded, “We’ll be able to serve the public better. We’ll be able to serve our neighbors better. And it will be safer for our firefighters.”