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State Fire Marshal

State Fire Services to administer $5M for fire safety equipment

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STOW — Gov. Maura Healey announced $5 million in grant funding that will be available through the state to support the purchase of firefighter turnout gear, fire suppression equipment and related items for local departments.

The fiscal 2024 Firefighter Safety Equipment Grants, which will be administered through the state Department of Fire Services, are part of a competitive grant program that reimburses local fire departments for the purchase of qualifying safety equipment.

Departments of every city, town, fire district, and eligible state authority may apply for a grant. Maximum funding amounts are based on the size of the population the department serves.

“The equipment funded through these grants will make firefighters and their communities safer,” said Secretary of Public Safety and Security Terrence M. Reidy. “Whether it’s a complete set of turnout gear or ballistic protection for use on a rescue task force, every dollar goes toward protecting the people who protect us.”

More than 130 different categories of tools, meters, personal protective equipment, communications devices, and other items are eligible for reimbursement through the program.

“The Firefighter Safety Equipment Grants are an investment in the health and safety of Massachusetts firefighters,” said State Fire Marshal Jon M. Davine. “The flexibility of the program is especially valuable because it allows each department to make purchases based on their specific needs and resources.”

The state Department of Fire Services, based in Stow, is under the Executive Office of Public Safety & Security.

For more information on the fiscal 2024 Firefighter Safety Equipment Grant program Fire chiefs and/or department grant managers that would like more details about the grants, such as eligibility requirements and conditions, should read the Notice of Funding Opportunity posted on the Department of Fire Services’ website.

(Courtesy Massachusetts Department of Fire Services)

Dunstable awarded two fire education grants

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DUNSTABLE — The Fire Department was been awarded two grants by the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services.

In a Wednesday statement, Fire Chief William Farrell said his department had been awarded $2,881 for the Fiscal Year 2023 Student Awareness of Fire Education Program and $1,777 for the Senior SAFE Program. The funding gives fire departments an opportunity to engage students and seniors with education on fire safety and prevention. Each program is tailored to the needs of each demographic and includes general best practices for what to do in the event of a fire, Farrell said.

According to the statement, lessons taught in the school-based program are in line with standards from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Health Curriculum Frameworks and the state Department of Fire Services Curriculum Planning Guidebook.

According to the Department of Fire Services, since the S.A.F.E. program was introduced within schools 27 years ago, annual child fire death rates have decreased by 78%.

To learn more about the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services’ S.A.F.E program, visit bit.ly/3GRzMtU.

Dunstable Fire Department awarded grant for new safety equipment

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DUNSTABLE — The Fire Department was recently awarded a grant as part of the state’s Department of Fire Services’ Fiscal Year 2023 Firefighter Safety Equipment Grant Program, Fire Chief William Farrell announced in a press release.

The program, meant to provide local fire departments with a “variety of equipment that makes the dangerous job of firefighting safer,” awarded a total of $5 million to more than 300 departments across the state, according to the press release. For Dunstable, the $9,496.25 grant will be used to replace numerous pieces of safety equipment, including “front line thermal imaging cameras” as well as “spare batteries for reverse thermal imaging cameras” and “portable scene lighting.”

This is the third year that funding has been awarded by the program, part of a five-year, $25 million bond bill filed by the Baker-Polito administration to support firefighter safety and health.

Massachusetts fire departments were able to apply to the program for 121 different types of eligible equipment, including ballistic protective clothing, thermal protective clothing, gear washers and dryers, thermal imaging cameras, assorted hand tools and extrication equipment, communications resources, hazardous gas meters, fitness equipment and more.

State Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey praised local firefighters for their work and called the program “absolutely vital” to local fire departments.

“Every time a firefighter goes to work, they could be asked to rescue a child from a burning building, clean up a spill of hazardous materials, treat a patient with a contagious medical condition, or rush into a hostile event to rescue and treat victims,” Ostroskey said. “This program is absolutely vital to helping fire departments prepare for the vast array of hazards they face today and making sure that firefighters go home safe after every call.”

Burning for a second day, Ashby brush fire takes over 20 crews to extinguish

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ASHBY — Battling heat and flames, firefighters from more than 20 departments across Massachusetts and New Hampshire continued efforts to extinguish a brush fire at a composting site along Log Cabin Road for a second day on Thursday.

Although countless firefighters had worked since early Wednesday morning, Ashby Fire Chief Mark Bussell said the blaze continued in spite of their efforts. After arriving on scene Wednesday and assessing the extent of the fire, Bussell said the Ashby Fire Department signaled for mutual aid.

“We get here and the brush, mulch, everything was burning — and has continued to burn (Thursday) — so we made the call,” Bussell said.

As of Thursday, Bussell said the cause of the fire was unknown, but an investigation by local authorities and the State Fire Marshal’s Office was underway. He said it would be “at least another few days” until the investigation was complete.

Tanker trucks from Antrim and Rindge, N.H., as well as Paxton, Walpole, Winchester and a dozen other fire departments across Massachusetts, made the back-and-forth trek between Log Cabin Road and a pond behind the nearby Fitchburg Rod & Gun Club Thursday, transporting critical water to fight the blaze.

Bussel said, without them, they would “never get the fire out.”

“We’ve had them back and forth constantly since (Wednesday),” he said. “We need to have enough water up here that we can maintain a stream — we don’t want to start, stop, start, stop over and over again cause then we’ll never get the fire out.”

In a period of severe drought across the state, Bussell estimated his department and those rendering mutual aid used about 1.6 million gallons of water to battle the blaze on Wednesday. He expected similar water usage Thursday and even more by the time their work would be done, which could be as late as the weekend.

“We’ll probably have used upwards of three million gallons by the time we’re done here,” he said.

Fortunately, the fire was contained to the brush pile and damage to a nearby farm, located at 147 Log Cabin Road, and other nearby wooded areas was avoided. But, given the height of the pile — brush, mulch and other vegetation reach as high as 50 feet in some areas — Bussell said the fire could continue to burn for days.

“Fortunately the fire was pretty quick to contain within the pile itself, now we’re just trying to extinguish which can take a lot of time and water,” he said. “Based on what we’ve seen these last two days, I would expect it to burn into the weekend.”

The property at 147 Log Cabin Road has been the cause of friction between the town and the property’s neighbors. In 2019, more than 40 neighbors attended a Zoning Board of Appeals meeting to express concerns for their safety, pertaining to the drinking water. The meeting came after the owners Robert and Tony Ethier were issued a cease and desist order by then Building Commissioner Peter Niall.

According to neighbors, the owners were using the property as a dumping ground for parking lot snow, trash, concrete and compost.

However, at the meeting Jeremy Ethier contended that the site was only handling compost and the operation was following state regulations. Ethier also argued the property was a farm and not a private business, which would have been allowed by town zoning laws.

The Zoning Board of Appeals upheld the decision several days later. The town’s cease and desist order is still in place as of Thursday, according to Town Administrator Christine Lindberg.

Given the fire, Lindberg said the situation has “surpassed anything the town could do” and that the issue had “moved up to the state level.” She also said that representatives of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, Department of Conservation and Recreation, Massachusetts Environmental Police and other state agencies had visited the site since Wednesday.

“That’s why everybody has been here — MassDEP, MEMA, DCR — to see the results of what we’ve been trying to enforce and hold (Ethier) accountable for and to see that, despite being told to stop, (Ethier) has continued.”

While Lindberg would not comment on any future action by Ashby or the state, she said the town would continue to work with those state agencies “in order to determine the next steps.”

Lindberg and Bussell praised the men and women on the scene that helped the town fight the blaze. Both also recognized the Leominster Emergency Canteen — a volunteer arm of the city’s Office of Emergency Management — to keep firefighters hydrated and fed.

“I am extremely impressed and grateful for the mutual aid that these towns have provided,” Lindberg said.

“The men and women here, the towns and other departments that are here to help us, I can’t thank them enough,” Bussell said. “Their work has been invaluable and I honestly don’t know where we’d be without them.”