By Donna Lane

The Norwood Fire Department was one of 306 Massachusetts fire departments awarded a grant from the Commonwealth’s FY22 Firefighter Safety Equipment Grant Program. This program enables fire departments to purchase a variety of equipment that will make firefighters’ jobs safer. This is the second year that funding has been awarded for this purpose as part of a $25 million bond bill filed by the Baker-Polito Administration to support firefighter safety and health in the coming years.

“Our communities and families depend on firefighters in difficult and dangerous moments,” Governor Charlie Baker said in a press release. “This program is an opportunity to show our deep appreciation for their work by ensuring they have the tools they need to stay safe and healthy.”

Fire departments in Massachusetts were able to apply to this program for 118 different types of eligible equipment, including personal protective clothing, gear washers and dryers, thermal imaging cameras, assorted hand tools and extrication equipment, communications resources, hazardous gas meters, fitness equipment, and more. In many cases, the purchase of this equipment will help departments attain compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Administration or National Fire Protection Association safety standards.

“Best practices for firefighter safety are constantly evolving as technology advances and our understanding of the short and long-term health impacts of the work improves,” State Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey said. “This program is so important to help fire departments modernize their equipment and get firefighters the protection they need. The long-term health outcomes realized from these grant awards will have a truly immeasurable benefit.”

The Norwood Fire Department (NFD) received nearly $25,000 in grant money which they used to purchase First-Alert Safety Systems (FASS). Essentially, this is a reverse motion detector that hangs off of a firefighter’s gear. If the firefighter falls or is in trouble, the system emits a piercing alarm that gets progressively louder and a light starts to flash as a signal to other firefighters in the area that there’s a problem. The FASS can locate the person who is in trouble. 

“The state grant allows us to replace the older, outdated FASS that we’ve been using and buy new systems for every firefighter in the department,” Norwood Fire Chief David Hayes said.

In September of 2021, the NFD was also awarded a $345,000 to Firefighters Grant from the Federal government. Town meeting provided the difference needed to subsidize the department’s planned equipment update program. 

“With this money, we were able to purchase air-packs – the breathing apparatus firefighters need – which cost approximately $10,000 each (mask, tank and breathing apparatus),” Chief Hayes said. “And worth every penny!” 

While the grant was substantial, it wasn’t enough to purchase all the equipment they needed. 

“Town meeting gave us enough money to complete the entire project with state-of-the-art equipment,” the Chief continued. “A new air compressor, breathing apparatus and three pack-trackers, which is like a LoJack for firefighters, allows us to lock onto someone’s air-pack and it will lead us right to them. It’s great technology!”

Chief Hayes said Norwood firefighters are in the process of training with the new air-packs and he hopes they will all be in service by the first part of February.

According to the Chief, another huge piece of this project is the new air compressor. 

“Using the old compressor, we fill the air packs every 90 days,” Chief Hayes said. “They go to a lab that analyzes the air for purity. If the analysis comes back saying there’s bad air in the units, we have to empty all the air bottles and refill them with clean air and get the air tested again and certified. With the new compressor, it tests the air as it’s going into the tank and stops if the air is not pure. Since we take all of the air from the outside, we could be filling the air bottles with nearby diesel fumes and no-one would know it. This new compressor samples the air in real time, saving us a bunch of time and effort and resulting in safer air for the firefighters.”

The Chief’s enthusiasm for the new equipment is unmistakable. 

“One of the cool technologies in the new masks is that they have bone-conduction speakers which link to the radio via blue tooth,” Chief Hayes said. “No matter how much noise there is in the background, the communication is crystal clear. It’s a massive advance in communications.”

When evaluating equipment during development of the grant proposal, the Chief brought in two competing vendors to compare their air tanks side by side. The vendors got to see the comparison as well and “sharpened their pencils” providing a better price than originally quoted. The Chief is expecting to return money to the Town but couldn’t yet estimate how much that will be.

With each grant they write, Chief Hayes said his department’s highest priority is safety ... for his firefighters and the people they serve. 

“The job of the modern firefighter takes countless forms,” Centerville-Osterville-Marston Mills Fire Chief Michael Winn, and President of the Fire Chiefs’ Association of Massachusetts stated in a press release. “At any given moment, they could be asked to respond to a fire, a hazardous materials leak, a car accident, or a medical call. Equipping them for safety in each of these situations is a significant financial burden for every department. We are so thankful that funding was made available to help with this challenge, especially at a time when so many departments are facing budget issues due to COVID-19.” 

The citizens of Norwood heartily agree!