Latest news with #PennsylvaniaOfficeoftheStateFireCommissioner
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
LEGISLATIVE ROUNDUP: Fire departments, emergency training centers urged to apply for grants before May 29 deadline
May 16—WILKES-BARRE — The Pennsylvania Office of the State Fire Commissioner (OSFC) this week reminded municipal fire departments and emergency training centers in Pennsylvania that applications are now open for two annual funding opportunities aimed at strengthening emergency response capabilities across the Commonwealth: —Municipal Fire Department Capital Grant —Emergency Training Center Capital Grant Both grants are competitive, offering up to $100,000 in funding for eligible organizations. The application window runs through May 29, allowing qualified organizations to submit proposals for modernizing facilities, acquiring or renovating structures, and purchasing or repairing essential emergency equipment. While volunteer fire departments are not eligible for the Municipal Fire Department Capital Grant, they may be eligible for the Emergency Service Training Center Capital Grant. "This funding helps ensure that our municipal fire departments and emergency training facilities have the tools, infrastructure, and support they need to serve communities safely and effectively," said State Fire Commissioner Thomas Cook. "We encourage all eligible organizations to apply today." What's available now: —Municipal Fire Department Capital Grant Who's eligible: Municipal fire departments recognized by local ordinance and budgeted by the local government where the department geographically resides. No volunteer fire departments qualify for this grant. Use of funds: Facility upgrades, building acquisitions, major repairs, or equipment purchases. Funding available per grant: $25,000 — $100,000 —Emergency Training Center Capital Grant Eligibility: Emergency services training centers, community colleges, county-owned facilities, municipal or fire department-owned facilities, and nonprofit, countywide associations. Use of funds: Modernization or establishment of training infrastructure. Funding available per grant: $25,000 — $100,000 Firefighters are being stretched thin right now, responding to more and more calls each year as the number of firefighters across the Commonwealth shrinks. A three-part plan in the 2025-26 budget proposal supports firefighters. The proposal: —Creates a new, competitive funding stream of $30 million in grants for our fire companies. —Creates a pilot program to help provide fire companies with the resources they need to work together. —Covers cancer screenings for firefighters. Last year, the state reformed the Workers' Compensation Act to ensure firefighters, first responders, and law enforcement with a post-traumatic stress injury get the coverage they deserve. Firefighters are exposed to toxic chemicals while on the job — all to keep the public safe. U.S. Senators McCormick and Kelly lead legislation targeting Mexican drug cartels U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pittsburgh, and U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, this introduced the Mexico Security Assistance Accountability Act, which would require the State Department to develop a strategy to dismantle the Mexican drug cartels that ensures U.S. security assistance is delivering the best return on investment for taxpayers. "For far too long, the Mexican drug cartels have poisoned communities in Pennsylvania and across the country with deadly fentanyl, killing more than 4,000 Pennsylvanians each year," Sen. McCormick said. "We need a clear strategy to dismantle the cartels that has real accountability and metrics for success, so we know security cooperation is actually achieving results. I look forward to working with the Administration on this common-sense approach to saving American lives." "Every day, Arizonans see up close the consequences of illegal drug trafficking into the United States," said Sen. Kelly. "Our relationship with Mexico and a shared security mission are critical to combat the cartels that produce these dangerous drugs. Our bipartisan bill will establish mission goals to effectively dismantle cartels and increase the capabilities of Mexico's law enforcement, strengthening U.S. national security and protecting our communities." The Mexican drug cartels are the leading driver of the fentanyl overdose crisis that has killed more than 300,000 Americans. In the 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration assessed, "Together, the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels have caused the worst drug crisis in U.S. history. They dictate the flow of nearly all illicit drugs into the United States...(including) the relentless stream of illicit fentanyl and methamphetamine crossing the border." This bill would require the State Department to develop a strategy for U.S. security assistance in Mexico to dismantle the cartels, increase the capacity of Mexico's military and public security institutions to degrade the cartels, and combat public corruption and impunity. State Police initiates Rapid DNA program to solve cases faster The Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) this week announced the initiation of its Rapid DNA program with the deployment of 15 fully automated genetic analyzers to troops across the Commonwealth — a major step forward in the Department's ability to bring justice to victims and hold offenders accountable. "This program represents significant advancements in our forensic capabilities," said Colonel Christopher Paris, Commissioner of the PSP. "Rapid DNA analysis can expedite the development of investigative leads, assist in suspect identification, and help exclude individuals with greater speed. Aside from investigative efficiency, this technology provides accuracy, fairness, and better outcomes for the communities we serve." Rapid DNA technology allows for the swift analysis of DNA samples outside of traditional lab environments, delivering results in as little as 90 minutes. The quick analysis provides investigators with timely, actionable information that can greatly benefit case resolution and public safety. The technology demonstrated its value in its first week of deployment when troopers obtained a blood sample from an ATM tampering case. The sample was compared to a DNA database, and in less than two hours, investigators received a notification identifying an investigative lead. PSP follows all state and federal guidelines for DNA collection and privacy protections. Only Forensic Service Unit (FSU) members who have successfully completed the Department's required training are authorized to operate the analyzers, and laboratory personnel conduct the necessary analysis to verify matches. PSP's expanded use of DNA testing and Rapid DNA has been supported by Governor Shapiro. The Shapiro Administration is working to build safer communities and ensure law enforcement is well-equipped, well-funded, and well-trained. The 2025-26 budget proposal calls for the complete elimination of the statutory cap on the State Police complement, which limits the number of troopers on the streets. Removing the statutory cap will allow for increased patrol visibility, faster response times, and the ability to maintain a proactive posture in Pennsylvania's communities. Furthermore, the 2025-26 budget proposal continues to sustainably fund PSP and includes $16 million to provide for four new cadet classes — to train nearly 400 more state troopers. In the last two budgets, the state secured funding to support the hiring of over 800 new PSP troopers and recruit and train nearly 700 municipal officers. Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Scott Twp. dive team plus 61 other Lackawanna County fire, EMS outfits receive grants
Scott Twp.'s Dive Rescue Specialists were among the 62 fire departments and emergency medical services across Lackawanna County to recently receive state funding. The grants were issued by the Pennsylvania Office of the State Fire Commissioner to more than 2,500 outfits across Pennsylvania, totaling $37.5 million. The funds will support the needs of firefighters and emergency services workers with the purchase of equipment, to train firefighters, for facility upgrades and other operational costs. Dive Rescue Specialists, based out of Meredith Hose Company in Carbondale, participated in 45 responses to water-related incidents in 2024, some involving emergency rescues. * Scott Twp.'s Dive Rescue Specialists dive team members gather together for a group photo during Camp Cadet, a summer camp program they work with involving children, in conjunction with the Pennsylvania State Police Department. (FRED BALES / SUBMITTED) * Scott Twp.'s Dive Rescue Specialists assess a water rescue on Dec. 24, 2024 in Hillside Park, South Abington Twp. When they arrived, the car was empty; the man inside managed to escape and swim to shore. (FRED BALES / SUBMITTED) * On Dec. 24, 2024, the Scott Twp. Dive Rescue Specialists dive team was called to Hillside Park in South Abington Twp. to help rescue a man trapped in a submerged car. By the time they arrived, the car was empty. The man managed to escape and swim to shore, but his car remained submerged. (FRED BALES / SUBMITTED) * On Dec. 24, 2024, the Scott Twp.'s Dive Rescue Specialists were called to a second submerged vehicle rescue while on another call in South Abington. In this incident, a woman was trapped in her vehicle, submerged in cold water and unable to escape. The dive team helped her escape the car and get to safety. (FRED BALES / SUBMITTED) * A sonar photograph taken by a fisherman who identified a submerged van. Dive Rescue Specialists were called to the scene to help remove the van from the watery depths. (FRED BALES / SUBMITTED) * A van that was pulled from the water by Dive Rescue Specialists after 17 years of submersion. (FRED BALES / SUBMITTED) * An ice rescue demonstration at Winterfest. One diver simulates a person in need of rescue, and another demonstrates the techniques involved to save a person from water covered by ice. (FRED BALES / SUBMITTED) Show Caption 1 of 7 Scott Twp.'s Dive Rescue Specialists dive team members gather together for a group photo during Camp Cadet, a summer camp program they work with involving children, in conjunction with the Pennsylvania State Police Department. (FRED BALES / SUBMITTED) Expand 'Many of our dives are quite dangerous,' said William White, vice president of the dive team, describing rescues in murky waters. 'Northeastern PA doesn't have a lot of clear lakes. Visibility is very poor. The rivers are really pretty dangerous, with the current, with the underwater things that you could get caught on, logs, fences, different things.' The period following heavy rainstorms is often problematic, specifically around fast moving rivers, like the Susquehanna, and during freezing temperatures. 'Not only are they (rescue divers) working on ropes, but they're fighting against the currents,' White said. 'We also have divers that dive under the ice, they go in through a hole in the ice and do a search, and it's a situation where you can very easily get lost under the ice.' White outlined the dangerous and harrowing rescues the emergency dive team routinely engages in across Lackawanna County and beyond. 'We had drownings in the Susquehanna River, we were called to Schuylkill County, Columbia County, we were out in the Poconos for dives for drowning victims, we also do boat rescues. … We had someone drown in the Lackawaxen River. … In September of 2023, we had the flooding in Chinchilla that came down and was a very dangerous situation,' he said. 'There were two people who were swept away and drowned. We rescued over 90 people out of cars that were caught in that flooded water,' he said, explaining that his dive team's area of coverage is Lackawanna and Susquehanna counties, but that they also respond to calls to Wyoming, Wayne, Bradford, Monroe and Pike counties. Aside from the funds they receive from the state, they operate mostly through community donations, White said. 'Many businesses have been very generous to us and have helped with purchasing equipment for us,' he explained, adding that a dive truck and emergency equipment ranges in cost from $65,000 to $170,000 if bought used. New dive trucks can easily stretch up to half a million dollars in price. For the past 42 years that they've been serving the community, the Dive Rescue Specialists have operated out of community buildings including the Justus Fire Company, the Scott Twp. Hose Company, and now the Meredith Hose Company. All funding goes a long way for the organization, such as toward a new center of their own. 'We're building a building right now. … A garage meeting room facility,' White said. 'We probably still need $100,000 to finish the building so we can move into it,' he said, adding the structure is up but 'there's no power, no heat, no lights, there's a lot of things that need to be done.' Fred Bales, chief of the dive team at Dive Rescue Specialists and former fire chief, teaches public safety dive instruction in Pennsylvania and beyond. The work takes a toll. 'We have positive things that we do when we talk about surface water rescue, ice rescue. … Those give us very positive outcomes because we get to save lives,' Bales said. 'When we're doing dive events, we're not saving a life. We're returning the body of a loved one to a family. We don't like those calls. We like calls with happy endings. Unfortunately, the majority of the calls we get aren't happy endings.' He added that their work includes assisting law enforcement, weapons recovery and vehicle recovery. Bales called the dive team in Scott Twp. 'incredibly unique,' as it operates as a standalone organization. 'To the best of our knowledge, we are the only independent (dive) team in the state,' Bales said. He explained that back in the 1980s, there was no dedicated dive group, which led divers, who spanned communities across Lackawanna County, to establish one. 'We addressed an unmet need,' Bales said. White explained that replacing their diving gear every three years or so is paramount. 'Dive equipment is life safety equipment, your life involves that equipment being in good shape, properly maintained,' White said. 'We turn it over regularly to make sure it's up to snuff.' He said that divers, themselves, must be replaced, as they only have a finite span that they are capable of public safety diving. 'Dive teams are very hard to keep going, because they typically go 10 years and then they're retiring, and health problems, and so on, so you have to keep bringing on new people and training new people,' he said. 'We're probably on at least our fourth generation of divers. We replace divers as we go along, because if you don't, you'll be out of business.' Lackawanna County grant recipients Archbald Community Ambulance and Rescue Squad, Archbald, $24,879. Archbald Community Ambulance and Rescue Squad, EMS, Archbald, $15,000. Artisan Fire Company, Jermyn, $12,018. Black Diamond Hose Company No. 2, Archbald, $12,448. Blakely Borough Community Ambulance Association, Peckville, $13,524. Blakely Borough Community Ambulance Association EMS, Peckville, $15,000. Blakely Hose Company No. 2, Blakely $14,385. Chinchilla Hose Company of South Abington Twp, South Abington Twp., $14,170. Chinchilla Hose Company of South Abington Twp. EMS, South Abington Twp., $10,000. Carbondale Fire Department, Carbondale, $12,233. Clarks Summit Fire Company 1, Clarks Summit, $13,524. Clarks Summit Fire Company 1 EMS, Clarks Summit, $15,000. Columbia Hose Company No. 5, Carbondale, $12,663. Cottage Hose Ambulance Corps., Carbondale, $12,879. Cottage Hose Company No. 2, Carbondale, $13,739. Covington Independent Fire Company, Covington Twp., $14,600. Covington Independent Fire Company EMS, Covington Twp., $15,000. Crystal Fire Company No. 1, Jermyn, $13,739. Dalton Fire Company, Dalton, $13,309. Dive Rescue Specialists, Peckville, $15,000. Dunmore Fire Department, Dunmore, $15,246. Eagle Hose Company No. 1, Dickson City, $15,000. Eagle McClure Hose Company No. 1 Station, Taylor, $14,815. East Side Hose Company No. 4, Archbald, $12,018. Elmhurst Roaring Brook Fire Company, Roaring Brook Twp., $15,246. Eureka Hose Company No. 4, Olyphant, $13,309. Eynon Sturges Volunteer Hose Company No 3, Eynon, $25,955. Fleetville Volunteer Fire Company, Fleetville, Benton Twp., $12,879. Grattan Singer Hose Company No. 1, Simpson, $12,879. Greenfield Twp. Volunteer Fire Company of Lackawanna County EMS, Greenfield Twp., $15,000. Greenfield Twp. Volunteer Fire Company of Lackawanna County, Greenfield Twp., $14,385. Greenwood Hose Company No .1, Moosic, $16,322. Jefferson Township Volunteer Fire Company, Jefferson Twp., $14,385. Jessup Hose Company No. 1, Jessup, $12,233. Jessup Hose Company No. 2, Jessup, $15,676. Jessup Hose Company No. 2 EMS, Jessup, $15,000. Justus Volunteer Fire Company, Clarks Summit, $13,094. Justus Volunteer Fire Company EMS, Clarks Summit, $15,000. Lawrence Hose Company No. 1, Old Forge, $13,524. Liberty Hose Company No. 6, Olyphant, $12,018. Madisonville Independent Fire Company, Madison Twp., $13,094. Meredith Hose Company, Childs, $12,663. Moscow Volunteer Fire & Hose Company FC, Moscow, $14,385. Moscow Volunteer Fire & Hose Company EMS, Moscow, $15,000. Old Forge Hose and Engine Company FC, Taylor, $13,739. Olyphant Ambulance EMS, Olyphant, $15,000. Olyphant Hose Company No. 2, Olyphant, $12,879. Pennsylvania Ambulance EMS, Dunmore, $15,000. Queen City Hose Company No. 8 FC, Olyphant, $12,879. Scott Twp. Hose Company, Scott Twp., $13,524. Scott Twp. Hose Company EMS, Scott Twp., $15,000. Scranton City Bureau of Fire, Scranton, $16,322. Spring Brook Volunteer Fire Company, Moscow, $12,663. Taylor Fire and Rescue, Taylor, $20,000. Thornhurst Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company, Thornhurst, $13,094. Throop Hose Company No. 1, Throop, $12,879. Throop Volunteer Hose Company No. 3, Throop, $12,018. Whites Crossing Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company, Carbondale, $13,309. Whitmore Hose Company, Mayfield, $12,448. William Walker Hose Company, Jermyn, $15,461. William Walker Hose Company EMS, Jermyn, $15,000. Wilson Fire Company Number 1, Peckville, $13,309.
