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The Williamsville Fire Department has been awarded a federal fire grant totaling $ 55,238 , funded by the Department of Homeland Security ’ s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program ( AFG ). The grant funding will be used by the department to purchase a new air compressor to fill Self-Contained Breathing Apparatuses ( SC- BAs ) used by the firefighters . SCBA sets are vital for firefighters as they respond to emergencies in hostile , hazardous environments . The new air compressor will supply breathable air to the SCBA packs . “ Access to fresh air is lifesaving to both firefighters and the people they selflessly
The Firefighter Higgins secures grant for Williamsville FD
serve ,” said Higgins . “ We are grateful to members our community who dedicate t h e i r time and talent as volunteer firefighters and congratulate Williamsville Fire Department for their success securing this grant contributing to a safe Village of Williamsville .” As a full-service volunteer department , Williamsville
Fire Departm e n t provides fire suppression , emergency medical services , technical rescue and response d u r i n g weather-related emergencies . Additionally , the department is an active participant in the community , providing fire prevention education as well as emergency medical services at village events .
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“ These grants are essential to protecting our firefighters as they work to ease the burdens of the community we proudly serve ,” said Williamsville Fire Department Chief Richard Maddigan . A total of $ 355 million in funding for the AFG program was approved by Congress in 2020 to help aid first responder organizations in their emergency relief efforts . Since 2001 , the AFG has awarded approximately $ 7.7 billion in grants to provide critical resources that equip and train emergency personnel to recognized standards , enhance operational efficiency , foster interoperability and support community resilience .
Development update : particulate and toxic gas sensors
A technical endeavor has been made to develop prototypes of real-time particulate and toxic-gas sensors for firefighter health and safety in collaboration between Case Western Reserve University ( CWRU ), NASA Glenn Research Center , and Makel Engineering Inc . ( MEI ). Removal of respiratory protection during post-fire overhaul activities can expose firefighters to unknown toxicants , but current practice generally relies on the carbon monoxide detection . Wildland firefighters do not wear respiratory protection despite longterm exposure to smoke at varying levels . Various consecutive and partially overlapping tasks have been conducted . In the early stage of the project , the Project Technical Panel was formed with the assistance of the Fire Protection Research Foundation , and telephone conferences were held to review the project scope , tasks , timetable , and other pertinent project details . Two types of micro-fabricated sensors for sensory irritant gases , i . e ., acrolein and formaldehyde , were studied at CWRU and NASA . In the meantime , miniaturization of the existing multi-parameter aerosol scattering sensor was completed at NASA . The particulate and gas sensors , together with the control electronics , were integrated into prototypes at MEI . Prototype I units include the sensors for particulate , low-level CO , O2 , and hydrocarbon sensors , and Prototype II units include those for particulate , high-level CO , O2 , hydrocarbon , acrolein , and formaldehyde . The smoke generation and toxicity characteristics of pyrolyzing or flaming materials were studied using the smoke density chamber and the cone calorimeter at CWRU . Main findings include : ( 1 ) the non-flaming pyrolysis of wood generated much more (~ 3 ×) CO than the flaming condition , ( 2 ) the formaldehyde concentration was an order of magnitude higher than acrolein , and ( 3 ) both formaldehyde and acrolein concentrations were correlated well with the CO concentration . The results were informative for the device development . In addition to initial laboratory testing of the prototypes , a brief attempt was made to test the first Prototype I unit in the wildland fire in California by the USDA Forest Service . Further field fire testing and debugging efforts are needed for Prototype II to implement the technology into a commercial product in the future . The full final report shall be accessed from the Case Western Reserve University Website .