WPRO News and the Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – The Johnston Fire Department and the Rhode Island Fire Academy have been awarded more than $600,000 in federal grants.
U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressman Jim Langevin announced that Johnston firefighters will receive $430,184 and the fire academy will receive $198,261. The lawmakers helped the firefighters submit successful grant applications to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Langevin says tight municipal budgets have forced the state’s fire departments to “do more with less.”
Johnston firefighters will use the funds to purchase new radio equipment, including 46 portable radios and 21 mobile radios, as well as software to modernize the communications system. The academy will buy new roadside emergency equipment and breathing apparatuses.
The funding comes from FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program.
