Portland Fire Department Receives $13,110 Federal Grant

January 8, 2009, PORTLAND – When there is an emergency, firefighters should be properly prepared and equipped to respond.  Today, Congressman Bart Gordon announced that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security awarded $13,110 to the Portland Fire Department to purchase equipment and increase the certification level of their volunteer firefighters.
 
“Countless lives are saved every day by the courageous efforts of first responders – our nation’s firefighters, EMTs, and police officers,” said Congressman Gordon who is a member of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus.  “This DHS grant will allow the Portland Fire Department to do an even better job than they are already doing.”

The grant was awarded through the DHS Assistance to Firefighters Grant program.  The program was developed to help firefighters and other first responders obtain critically needed equipment to improve their ability to protect the public and emergency personnel from fires and related hazards.  The Portland Fire Department will use the funds to purchase laptop computers for the fire trucks and certify volunteers.

“We’re going to enter information into the laptops about commercial and industrial facilities to be able to pre-plan, so if we’re called to a facility, we’ll know the layout, how many employees, what utilities are there and whether there are any hazardous materials,” Chief Al West said.

West said the department also plans to finish certifying some of their 25 volunteers as Level 1 firefighters through the Tennessee Fire Service Codes Enforcement Academy.  Others will be certified as instructors. 

The Portland Fire Department was founded in 1888 and covers the city, in addition to providing mutual aid to other emergency agencies in Sumner County.