Monmouth County Fire Company Awarded $161K FEMA Grant

Press Release

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) said a federal grant in the amount of $161,082 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been awarded to Wall Township Fire Company Number 1 to purchase self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA).

"Wall Fire Company Number One is the oldest fire company in Wall Township and has a long history of protecting the community," said Smith. "This grant will purchase emergency equipment that is critical to protecting the firefighters so they can do their job."

Smith said the grant funds will be used to update the department's current inventory of SCBA for a total of 28 units.

"We currently have some SCBA in service that are over 20 years old and all of our units are at least two revisions behind the current National Fire Protection Association guidelines," said William Newberry, Director of Fire Services for Wall Township Fire District 1. "Without this grant it would have been very difficult to update our inventory within our current financial position."

The funding comes through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) Operations and Safety Grant Program. It is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in cooperation with the U.S. Fire Administration. The purpose of AFG is to award grants directly to fire departments and non-affiliated Emergency Medical Services organizations (EMS) to protect both the health and safety of the public, and first-responder personnel as well. A competitive process overseen by fire service subject matter experts awards grants to applicants whose requests are aligned with the priorities of the AFG Program.

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