On Friday, August 8th, 2014 the Fire Company received notification that we have been awarded another Federal Assistance to Firefighters Grant from the FY2013 grant cycle in the amount of $89,880.

This grant will allow us to install an automatic sprinkler system inside our fire station to ensure adequate fire protection for our facility.

Our building, constructed in various stages and renovations over the course of the past 60 years, has no current provisions for fire protection other than an automatic fire alarm system.

With the growing need for staffing due to increased call volumes, we now have many days and nights when the firehouse is staffed 24/7. The on duty crews deserve the piece of mind that they will be well protected should an unfortunate fire break out at the station.

Fire sprinklers are widely recognized as the single most effective method for fighting the spread of fires in their early stages - before they can cause severe injury to people and damage to property. According to the National Fire Protection Association, property damage in hotel fires was 78% less in structures with sprinklers than it was in structures without sprinklers during the years 1983-87. NFPA has no record of a fire killing more than two people in a completely sprinklered building where the system was properly operating, except in an explosion or flash fire or where industrial fire brigade members or employees were killed during fire suppression operations.

With the reality that a fire can break out anywhere at any time, fire station fires are unfortunately surprisingly common. In 2006, we responded to a large fire at the West End Fire Company of Coatesville which caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.

This grant is now the 12th award we have received through the Federal Assistance to Firefighters Grant program since 2004 totaling $1,581,610 in grant funds.

We are greatly appreciative of the funding which we have been provided through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. The Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program is administered by the department's Directorate for Preparedness through its Office of Grants and Training in cooperation with the United States Fire Administration, also a division of the Preparedness Directorate.