{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://courtney.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-courtney-announces-over-887000-new-federal-support-five-eastern", "Rep. Courtney Announces Over $887,000 in New Federal Support for Five Eastern Connecticut Fire Stations", "2022-09-02", "2022", "2022-09", "Democrat", "House", "CT", "Joe Courtney", "C001069", "courtney.house.gov", "courtney", "https://courtney.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "NORWICH, CT\u2014Today, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded a new round federal grants totaling more than $887,000 to five eastern Connecticut fire departments in Chester, Preston, New London, Norwich, and Stafford. Each of the new federal awards were dispersed through FEMA\u2019s Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) program, and will assist the departments in purchasing essential new safety equipment and lifesaving medical devices, to carry out necessary firefighter training, and more.\n\n\u201cIt comes as an awesome relief to get this federal Assistance to Firefighters grant award, because we\u2019ve had a serious need to replace our department\u2019s breathing apparatuses\u2014they\u2019ve really aged,\u201d said Chester Hose Company Fire Chief James Grzybowski. \u201cFunding like this, which allows us to re-stock and re-supply critical equipment, is important for our department and for the entire Town of Chester, and it helps keeps our firefighters safe when they\u2019re working hard to protect our community.\u201d\n\n\u201cWith our department having minimum staffing when responding to incidents, these CPR Compression Devices will help us save lives,\u201d said Poquetanuck Volunteer Fire Department Chief Keith Wucik. \u201cBeing awarded the AFG allows us to make this purchase that otherwise would not be possible with budget constraints.\u201d\n\n\u201cThese funds will be used to host a Fire Instructor class for our members who do not currently hold this certification,\u201d said New London Fire Department Chief Thomas Curcio. \u201cThe new AFG funding will also be utilized to help make us compliant with OSHA-required \u2018live burn training\u2019 at the Eastern Connecticut Fire School in Willimantic. With these grant dollars, we\u2019ll be able to backfill and cover overtime costs\u2014a really important investment for our department.\u201d\n\n\u201cReceiving this grant funding is a huge benefit to the Fire Officers and Firefighters of the City of Norwich Fire Department,\u201d said Chief Tracy Montoya of the Norwich Fire Department. \u201cThe grant will provide Fire Officers and Firefighters with training and certification in three focused areas. The first area is to provide training in rapid Intervention techniques and procedures that are used to rescue firefighters in the event of becoming trapped or disorientated in a fire. The City of Norwich Fire Department often responds to provide a rapid intervention team during fires and this grant will provide training to keep up with the latest techniques and challenges that firefighters endure. The two other areas include training in Pump and Aerial Operations. Both courses will include certification in those two specific areas of expertise.\u201d\n\n\u201cOn the heels of newly enhanced benefits for firefighters and police officers through the bipartisan Protecting Our First Responders Act, this new round of federal AFG grants represents another important source of support for our firefighters and fire stations,\u201d said Rep. Courtney. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to support our first responders right now, and the Assistance to Firefighters grant program is a versatile tool that does that by helping firefighters purchase everything from essential lifesaving equipment to important training. These are highly sought-after grant awards that fire stations nationwide all compete for, and it\u2019s great to see the funding coming home to support eastern Connecticut after our local stations put in the work to go after it. Congratulations to all five of our local fire departments.\u201d\n\nThe Chester Hose Company will receive an AFG grant award of $127,428.57, and will use it to support the purchase of new Firefighter Breathing Apparatuses, which are essential for protecting firefighters against toxic gas and harmful particulates resulting from fires.\n\nIn Preston, the Poquetanuck Volunteer Fire Department will receive an AFG award of $45,714.28. They will use the new federal funding to purchase CPR Compression Devices. This technology offers a safer, more efficient way of getting someone whose heart has stopped to start back up again, and helps the fire department save lives.\n\nThe West Stafford Fire Department will use their AFG grant award of $18,571.42 to purchase a new washer and dryer for the department\u2019s firefighting gear, which need to be washed thoroughly of potentially harmful residuals.\n\nThe New London Fire Department received an AFG grant award of $95,545.45, and the Norwich Fire Department received an AFG grant award of $379,901.34. Both departments will use the new federal funding to support the completion of necessary training for their firefighters.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T03:08:33Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://courtney.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-courtney-announces-over-887000-new-federal-support-five-eastern"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7688300684094429, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}