NEARLY $1.5 MILLION IN FEDERAL FUNDING FOR CARROLL COUNTY FIRST RESPONDERS

U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) was joined by Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and New Windsor Mayor Neal Roop in New Windsor today to announce nearly $1.5 million in federal funding for Carroll County first responders. Federal grant funding will be used to purchase life-saving firefighting equipment and to train future firefighters protecting families and communities. Additional participants in Monday's event at the New Windsor Fire Station included Steve Barry, Grants Chairman for the Maryland State Firefighters Association; Stephen Wantz, President of the Carroll County Volunteer Emergency Services Association; Michael Knight, Captain in the Reese Volunteer Fire Department; Tom Coe, Chief of the New Windsor Fire Department; and Chiefs from eight Carroll County fire departments.

"This has been a tough week for firefighters and first responders all over America. When the bombs went off in Boston, and on the scene at that tragic explosion in Texas, firefighters, EMTs and local law enforcement were the first on the scene," Senator Mikulski said. "Today we are here to salute them. We also salute those men and women across Maryland and the nation who each day give up their time and their own efforts to keep us safe. These funds in the federal checkbook mean that we will protect our protectors, so that they have the tools they need on the job when lives are on the line."

Senator Mikulski and Congressman Van Hollen detailed federal funding that was previously announced in March and April including a $985,680 in federal grant funding has been awarded among eight Volunteer Fire Departments in Carroll County through the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program. The eight Volunteer Fire Departments receiving this award are New Windsor Fire & Hose Co. #1, Pleasant Valley Community Fire Company, Mt. Airy VFD, Hampstead VFD, Manchester VFD, Taneytown VFD, Winfield Community VFD, and Reese & Community VFD. With a regional award, these fire departments demonstrate interoperability and lower equipment costs by buying in bulk. The award funds will purchase 170 Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) units with spare cylinders, 240 face masks, 15 firefighter accountability tracking devises, and 18 Rapid Intervention Air Packs. This equipment will enable firefighters to breathe in smoke-filled buildings and find downed firefighters who cannot communicate their location, keeping firefighters safe and effective in the field.

In addition, the Pleasant Valley Community Fire Company has been awarded $103,075 through the federal AFG program in order to purchase five Automatic External Defibrillators and install a diesel exhaust extraction system in the station.

The Carroll County Volunteer Emergency Services Association has been awarded $368,120 through the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response (SAFER) program. Funding will be used to prepare high school students for careers as professional and volunteer firefighters.

As Chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Mikulski fights each year to increase federal funding for the fire grants program. AFGP grants fund firefighting equipment, personal protection equipment, training, firefighting vehicles, firefighter/first responder safety projects, and staffing recruitment and retention, as well as public fire safety education.

Since 2001, Maryland fire departments and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) units have received nearly $122 million in fire grant funding, nearly $3.5 million of which was awarded to Fire and EMS departments in Carroll County.