By FRANK SOJAK
Conemaugh Borough Volunteer Fire Company has been awarded a $261,250 grant – one of the larger awards given to a Greater Johnstown department – by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The grant, announced Wednesday by U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, will be used toward the purchase of a new pumper to replace a 1973 model, said fire Chief Harry Grove.
“We’re happy to get the grant,” he said.
Grove said the fire company is working on specifications for the new engine and hopes to have it built and delivered by next fall.
Unlike the pumper it is replacing, the new one will have a fully enclosed cab for firefighters plus a Class A foam system to enhance fire-fighting efforts, he said. The new truck will carry the same amount of water – 1,000 gallons – but will be able to pump 1,500 gallons a minute compared with the 1,250 gallons a minute of the old pumper.
The company also has a 1987 pumper and a 1984 ladder truck.
Because the new truck will cost more than the grant, firefighters will have to raise money to buy the engine, Grove said.
The company has 20 active firefighters.
The grants are provided to fire departments and nonaffiliated emergency medical services organizations to enhance the ability of first-responders to protect the health and safety of the public and the first responders, Murtha said in a news release.
Since 2004, the grants – known as Assistance to Firefighters Grants – have provided nearly $2.2 billion to help first-responder organizations purchase response equipment, personal-protective equipment and vehicles.
Murtha said another fire company in his district, Monessen Volunteer Fire Department in Westmoreland County, received a $114,454 grant.
