U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell issued the following announcement on July 31
Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) announced that the Vancouver Fire Department (VFD) will receive a $439,676 federal grant to help the department upgrade its thermal imaging camera (TIC) equipment and provide specialized training to personnel responding to incidents involving hazardous materials. The funding comes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program.
“The Vancouver Fire Department is immediately responsible for nearly 250,000 residents across a 90 square mile area, and serves over 1,000,000 individuals throughout the greater Portland, Oregon, area through mutual aid agreements,” Cantwell wrote to FEMA Administrator Peter Gaynor in a letter of support for Vancouver’s grant application in April 2020. “If funded, these requests would allow VFD to better serve and protect the residents of this rapidly growing region.”
The funding will help the Vancouver Fire Department replace its thermal imaging equipment with new equipment that meets safety standards. TIC technology helps firefighters locate fire starts and potential victims and limit firefighter exposure. The funding will also help the department – which is the regional responder for hazardous materials in Southwest Washington and provides support to the City of Portland – institute specialized training for responding to incidents involving hazardous materials.
Original source can be found here.
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