HOLYOKE – As part of the Assistance to Firefighter Grant (AFG) program from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), several local communitiess, including Longmeadow, Holyoke, and Springfield each recently received funds for equipment.

“Since 2001, AFG has helped firefighters and other first responders obtain critically needed equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training and other resources necessary for protecting the public and emergency personnel from fire and related hazards,” states www.fema.gov.

Longmeadow was awarded a grant for $33,143 to go toward replacing 12 sets of outdated firefighter protective gear, consisting of the coats, pants, boots, and helmets that firefighters wear in a fire.

“It’s really all about safety. There’s nothing more dangerous than entering a burning building,” Longmeadow Fire Chief John Dearborn said, adding that it is his job as chief to make sure his employees are safe.

The gear has a lifespan of 10 years. The ongoing gear replacement schedule is set to replace two or three sets of gear each year. Even with the grant, the department will need to use a portion of its budget to fully fund the replacement.

“It’s been a great program,” Dearborn said of the grants. In the past, the department has used AFG grants to replace their “jaws of life,” and self-contained breathing apparatuses, as well as their gear washer and dryer.

A grant for $95,454 was approved for the Springfield Fire Department. They will use the funds to purchase seven gear extractors, a machine used to clean the often dangerous chemicals from firefighter gear.

The Holyoke Fire Department was the recipient of a $382,200 grant from the program. The majority of the grant, $329,000, will replace 47 self-contained breathing apparatuses used in situations where breathing is hazardous. Also funded by the grant are 68 facepieces and, possibly, a filling station for the breathing equipment, though there is some additional red tape around that item, said Capt. Kevin Cavagnac of the fire department.

“We are the type of department [the grants] are designed for, but we can’t rely on them,” said Cavagnac. There is no guarantee city’s grant request will be approved in any given year.

“It’s substantial,” Cavagnac said. “It helps with our supplemental budget.” Without the grant, the gear replacement would have been a capital expenditure for the city, he said, and the department would have had to wait to replace the life-saving equipment.