On Tuesday, April 3rd the Township of Union Fire Department was awarded grant assistance from the FM Global Fire Prevention Grant Program. This grant is to be used for education, training, and community outreach initiatives through the Township.
“Being awarded this grant is a big part of allowing us to provide the best service and equipment to our citizens without being a burden on the budget,” stated Fire Chief Michael Scanio. “This particular grant will allow us to provide fire prevention education to large audiences, giving the citizens the proper knowledge on how to prevent fire emergencies before they happen is the ultimate goal for their safety.”
Fire Commissioner Manuel Figueiredo thanked FM Global Fire Prevention for their, “financial involvement in helping our Union Fire Department move forward with the task of continuously keeping our residents safe. Public safety is always our first priority and we therefore extend our gratitude to FM Global for their collaborative investment.”
Presently, due to outdated or nonexistent equipment, the Union Fire Department has to visit each individual classroom within each school to deliver information to the students. This is cumbersome, repetitive, and an ineffective use of department time. Now the department can deliver interactive presentation to large groups of people at once which will aid in firefighter trainings and community outreach activities, particularly at schools.
Purchasing a projector and the additional components will allow the Union Fire Department to visit schools and deliver presentations to significant portions of the student body using the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) educational materials according to age group, additional to their Annual Fire Headquarters Open House.
Beyond fire and safety prevention, the department provides seminars on Basic First Aid & CPR, something that the department would like to teach large audiences and expand to other events.