BLUMENTHAL, MURPHY, DELAURO AND COURTNEY ANNOUNCE FIRE SAFETY GRANTS FOR MIDDLETOWN, PLAINFIELD AND WILLINGTON

(Hartford,CT) – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Senator Chris Murphy(D-Conn.), Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-3) and Congressman Joe Courtney (D-2)announced today the award of three federal fire Operations and Safety Grants toimprove fire safety and operations in Middletown, the Wauregan Fire District inPlainfield and Willington. The grant is part of the Assistance to FirefightersGrant program administered by FEMA.

The SouthFire District of Middletown received $165,300 to provide expanded rescue coretraining certification for the district's 30 firefighters, includingspecialized training for confined spaces and vehicle and machine technicians.The training will take place at the Connecticut Fire Academy in Windsor Locks.

"The South Fire District greatlyappreciates the support from our congressional delegation. If incidents arisewithin our district or in other departments that we assist with in mutual aide,we will be better prepared and trained for these types of emergencies,"said Acting Chief Steven Krol.

"This type of training is critical asfirefighters are continually tasked with more demanding responsibilities. I'mpleased that the brave men and women of the South Fire Department will have accessto this state of the art training," said Middletown Mayor DanDrew.

The Wauregan Fire District / Atwood Hose Fire Company received an AFGOperations and Safety grant in the amount of $73,150 that will allow the firecompany to replace outdated self-contained breathing apparatuses over 20 yearsold with 14 new units built to the latest standards. The departmentcurrently has only 10 in service.

"The Assistance toFirefighters Grant will allow the Atwood Hose Fire Company to purchase state ofthe art breathing apparatus to ensure our fire fighters are protected as theyprovide first responder services to the citizens of the Wauregan and Dyer ManorFire Districts," said Wauregan Fire District / Atwood Hose FireCompany Fire Chief Bob Duval.

"This is great news tothis small fire district. This additional revenue will go a long way to relievea lot of pressure for this district," said Plainfield FirstSelectman Paul Sweet.

The Willington Fire Department #1 received an AFG Operations and Safety grantin the amount of $49,400, which will allow for the installation of a vehicleexhaust system in the North Willington Station.

"This grant will allowfor the installation of a vehicle exhaust system in our North WillingtonStation. Once completed, this system will contribute to the overall safety ofboth the career and volunteer personnel by greatly reducing exhaust emissionswithin the station which have been proven to be a large contributing factor inthe development of cancer in firefighters. We thank the delegation for thissupport and look forward to the installation of the system,"said Tyler F. Millix, Fire Chief Willington Fire Department Inc.

"This grant will allowthe Town of Willington to address a pressing safety concern and we are thankfulfor the support." Willington First Selectman Christina Mailhos.

"Connecticut has received fourteenfederal grants this fiscal year to protect our firefighters and residents.Firefighters in Middletown, Plainfield, Willington and throughout the state puttheir lives on the line every day to protect ours, and they deserve the besttraining and equipment available. I will continue to advocate for Connecticutfirst responders to ensure that every firefighter has access to the trainingand life-saving equipment they need to protect themselves as they protect us,"Senator Blumenthal said.

"These grants will provide criticalsupport to help firefighters continue their lifesaving work safely andeffectively. I'm proud to support the incredible work of our firefighters, whoput their lives on the line to protect our communities day in and day out,"said Senator Murphy.

"Last week's events are a reminder thatwe need to ensure our first responders have the most up to date equipment andtraining to help keep them safe in such dangerous jobs," saidCongresswoman DeLauro. "Iam grateful that this funding will provide exactly that to the brave rescueworkers and first responders who do the important work of keeping theMiddletown community safe."

"As we see consistentlyin fire emergencies, state-of-the-art equipment—whether breathing apparatusesor communications equipment—is absolutely essential to firefighters and theirability to respond effectively," said Congressman Courtney."These targetedinvestments will make our first responders safer, and will allow thedepartments to better serve the people of Wauregan, Willington, and thesurrounding areas. The departments deserve a tremendous amount of credit fordemonstrating need in a challenging funding environment."

These arethe twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth federal firefighting grants awarded inConnecticut in Fiscal Year 2013. Middletown received $1.14 million to hireeight additional firefighters and Waterbury received $2.9 million to hire newfire recruits through the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response(SAFER) and Assistance to Firefighters grant programs administered by FEMA.Seymour, Middletown, East Hartford, Shelton, Norwalk, Torrington, Southingtonand Waterbury also received grants to support operations and safety measures.