BLUMENTHAL, DELAURO JOIN MAYOR PICARD, CHIEF PICKERING IN ANNOUNCING FEDERAL FIRE PREVENTION GRANT FOR WEST HAVEN

West Haven SoughtFederal Grant to Expand Smoke Detector Awareness Following Fatal Stamford Fire

(Hartford,CT) - U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro(D-3) joined West Haven Mayor John Picard and West Shore Fire Department ChiefPatrick Pickering Wednesday in announcing a $110,304 federal fire preventiongrant to provide safety training and smoke detectors for West Haven residentsin low income and elderly housing.

WestHaven sought federal assistance to expand and strengthen its public educationefforts around smoke detectors following the fatal Christmas Day fire inStamford in 2012. The home was undergoing renovations and had no working smokedetectors at the time of the fire.

The grant program isadministered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal EmergencyManagement Agency in cooperation with the U.S. Fire Administration. In additionto providing smoke detectors for low-income and elderly housing residents, thegrant will provide funding for firefighters to go door to door and speak toresidents about the importance of smoke detectors, and for officials to performfree safety inspections.

"TheStamford fire was a tragic and heartbreaking reminder of the criticalimportance of fire prevention and safety measures. I applaud West Haven for itsproactive effort to educate residents about the simple, life saving measuresthey can take to protect themselves and their families. This effort will savelives, and I will continue to work with the Connecticut delegation to advocatefor additional funds to expand and continue such essential safety outreach statewide,"Blumenthal said.

"Preventionis absolutely crucial to keeping our communities safe and keeping tragediesfrom occurring in the first place," DeLauro said. "This funding for West Havenwill go a long way towards empowering families and reducing possible injuries,or even deaths caused by fires and other dangerous situations."

"Iam grateful to Senator Blumenthal and the rest of our federal delegation forsecuring this $110,000 grant for West Haven's three fire departments, whichwill help provide vital, lifesaving smoke detectors for low-income and elderlyresidents in every corner of our city," West Haven Mayor John M. Picard said."This important funding will further support our departments' critical role inensuring that quality fire prevention and safety programs are delivered toresidents in an effort to save lives."

The grant is the 25thfirefighting grant awarded in Connecticut in Fiscal Year 2013. Middletownreceived $1.14 million to hire eight additional firefighters and Waterburyreceived $2.9 million to hire new fire recruits through the Staffing forAdequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) and Assistance to Firefightersgrant programs administered by FEMA. Hartford, Milford, New Britain, NewMilford, Brookfield, Stratford, Bristol, East Woodstock, Killingly, Plainfield,Willington, Seymour, Middletown, East Hartford, Shelton, Norwalk, Torrington,Southington and Waterbury also received grants to support operations and safetymeasures. Connecticut Public Television also recently received an award toproduce a series of fire safety educational programs to air on their networkduring the upcoming holiday season.