NH town wins Homeland Security grant for new tanker

By Cara Hogan
The Eagle-Tribune

HAMPSTEAD, N.H. — The fire department is buying a new tanker truck for $325,000, but it's only costing taxpayers $16,250.

The department just found out it has been awarded a $308,750 federal Homeland Security grant to buy the truck, which will replace its existing tanker, now 27 years old.

Fire Chief Michael Carrier got the good news about the Assistance to Firefighters grant on Wednesday.

"We were very fortunate," he said. "We intend to purchase a 3,000-gallon water tanker, which gives us the ability to bring water with us to an incident. It feeds our other trucks the water necessary to put out fires or mitigate hazmat incidents."

Only a small portion of Hampstead has water hydrants, so it's necessary to bring water to fires, he said.

"This is our oldest piece of equipment in the department," Carrier said of the tanker. "It's the older type model with an open cab and that's been a firefighter safety issue throughout the country. The risk is falling out or off of the truck into the open road, because there's no doors to close you in."

The grant is a 95-5 split, with the town responsible for a 5 percent share, or $16,250. Voters approved spending that amount in a warrant article at Town Meeting March 13.

"The warrant article allows us to utilize the fire department's capital reserve fund to pay for our 5 percent share in the event we got the grant," he said. "And we did."

The goal of the grant is to help firefighters and first responders pay for critical equipment, protective gear, training and emergency vehicles, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In 2011, Congress appropriated $404 million for the grants that will be awarded through September. Applications are evaluated based on the project, financial need and long-term benefits of the grant.

Hampstead was one of thousands of departments selected nationwide for the competitive grant, according to U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, who supported Hampstead's bid for the grant.

"In order to perform their jobs effectively, firefighters must have safe equipment," Shaheen said. "This grant will allow Hampstead Fire Department to replace an aging, unsafe truck with a new, more reliable one that will help the department maximize its fire fighting potential and keep the citizens of Hampstead safe."

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