Crime & Safety

Ridgewood Fire Department To Receive $350,000 From Feds

Money is earmarked for staffing

Ridgewood will receive nearly $350,000 from the federal government for fire department staffing, Senators Frank R. Lautenberg and Robert Menendez said Wednesday.

The $349,031 to the Ridgewood Fire Department is earmarked for staffing and comes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) programs.

Ridgewood received funds through the SAFER grant program, which the senators say will help communities increase the number of trained "front line" firefighters in the department. According to the regulations of the program, combination paid/volunteer fire departments like Ridgewood can use the money for two years to pay the salaries of newly hired firefighters or to rehire recently laid-off firefighters.

Find out what's happening in Ridgewood-Glen Rockwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

It can also appropriate funds to recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters, which the department has struggled to find.

As a condition of the grant, if Ridgewood were to hire new firefighters, it must commit to retaining those new firefighters for one full year after the two-year period of performance.

Find out what's happening in Ridgewood-Glen Rockwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Firefighters have expressed concerns in response times to calls with a reduced force. Retirements and reorganization altered the look of the department after the 2010 budget was adopted–fire inspectors moved into primary fire-fighting roles and retired firefighters were hired on a part-time basis for inspection duties.

“With firefighters ready to roll at the sound of the alarm, we must be certain that our departments are sufficiently staffed to handle emergencies safely and effectively,” said Lautenberg, Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security.

Stay tuned for updates.


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