Stimulus plan earmarks funding for fire service

Editor's note: Check out the details of the final version of the stimulus plan approved by Congress in, ' Fire station, wildland funding included in approved stimulus plan .'

By Jamie Thompson
FireRescue1 Editor

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite Led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, center, lawmakers announce agreement on the stimulus measure at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday.

Related post on The Kitchen Table: Stimulus Money Marked For Wildland Fire Uses

WASHINGTON — Additional funds for the fire service are included in the huge economic stimulus plan that the Senate and House of Representatives will vote on in the coming days.

Hundreds of millions of dollars are earmarked for fire stations and wildfire management.

Members of both houses of Congress reached a deal Wednesday over the stimulus plan, with the total package now worth $789 billion. Votes on the final bill could come Thursday.

As part of the Senate version of the plan approved Tuesday, $500 million, to remain available until September 30, 2010, will be allocated to grants for modifying, upgrading, or constructing state and local fire stations.

In addition, it outlines:

• "An additional amount for Wildland Fire Management, $15 million, to remain available until September 30, 2010."
• "An additional amount for Wildland Fire Management, $485 million, to remain available until September 30, 2010, for hazardous fuels reduction and hazard mitigation activities in areas at high risk of catastrophic wildfire, of which $260 million is available for work on state and private lands using all the authorities available to the Forest Service."

Reports have not indicated the compromise reached Wednesday by both houses concern fire and wildland-related funding.

Robert Tutterow, vice-president of the Fire Industry Equipment Research Organization, which runs the Annual Fire Station Symposium, said firehouses have often struggled to keep up with the changes in the fire service as a whole.

"Lots of modifications are needed to many fire stations and there are also some stations that should be relocated more strategically," he said.

"There's also a need for fitness rooms in stations, and as more women come into the fire service there's the need for female restrooms and in some cases dormitories.

"There's also the requirement to tackle exhaust emissions as well as the need in many stations for new training and IT facilities."

Other modifications that many fire stations are needing to make, Tutterow said, include rooms for biohazard waste, dedicated storage areas for PPE and cleaning equipment for turnout gear.

"More energy efficient buildings and 'going green' is also something that we are going to have to start dealing with," he said.

Among those hoping to receive a share of the firehouse funding is the Marshfield, Wis., Fire Department. Marshfield city administrators sent a list of projects to the state governor's office earlier this month that they hope will qualify for funding through the stimulus package — with a new fire station the number one priority.

It is already at an advanced planning stage, so would easily meet the "shovel-ready" criteria of the package, which states projects that are ready to start by July 1 will be a priority.

Marshfield Deputy Fire Chief Robert Haight said the department's current 12,700-square foot fire station, which was built in 1961, is "woefully inadequate."

"We have determined that we need at least 26,000 square feet, as we're bursting at the seams here," he said.

"All the systems are old and antiquated, it isn't functional, isn't energy efficient and it no longer meets our mission statement."