Bloomfield Township Fire Department receives grants

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP — The Bloomfield Township Fire Department is getting a financial boost, thanks to some grant funding.

U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters recently announced that several southeast Michigan fire departments would receive a total of $689,407 in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Of the awarded funding — which comes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant and Fire Prevention and Safety Grant programs — $133,427 is earmarked for the Bloomfield Township Fire Department to purchase physical and cancer screenings, and implement a fitness program for staff.

“It addresses the common exposures that we have, the common causes of firefighter death or illness — cardiac, cancer or exposure to any number of bad things — and it addresses some exercise equipment for our stations so we can stay in shape and have a regular exercise program,” Bloomfield Township Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Matthew DeRousse said of the grant. “That is the very least we can do to stay in better health, so we’re able to perform better on these fire scenes and minimize injury. If you are out of shape and get winded quickly, you don’t think as clearly as you normally would, so it puts you at greater risk — not only of being weaker and out of breath, but making poor decisions. It’s part of what we can do on the front end to train and prepare ourselves, and then we also want to get screening immediately on our members to determine if anyone has potential or early stage life-threatening disease that can be corrected. It also provides us with a baseline for years to come.”

Firefighters, Stabenow said, put their lives on the line to protect the state’s families, homes and communities.

“These new resources will help keep the public safe and give our first responders the training and equipment they need to do their jobs more safely and effectively,” she said in a statement.

Peters noted that firefighters play “an essential role” in our communities and “work tirelessly” to protect Michiganders’ lives and property.

“This funding will ensure that fire departments have the federal resources they need to keep our communities safe and to do their jobs safely and effectively,” Peters said in a statement.

The Bloomfield Township Fire Department also recently received a grant from Energy Transfer to purchase some new turnout gear for its firefighters.

The $17,250 grant, part of Energy Transfer’s First Responder Fund, was used to purchase five sets of turnout gear — clothing that provides thermal protection in a fire environment.

Bloomfield Township Fire Department Lt. Ben Bradford said turnout gear is becoming more and more expensive, so the grant from Energy Transfer was enormously helpful, freeing over $17,000 in the department’s budget.

Turnout gear, DeRousse explained, is what firefighters must wear for any sort of structural firefighting.

“It provides thermal protection, as well as just protection against cuts and abrasions. It’s heavy-duty equipment, but the main importance is just to allow us to work in a hot environment,” he said. “The (National Fire Protection Association) recommends a lifetime of only 10 years for turnout gear, so we do have to rotate our turnout gear regularly.”

The purchase of the turnout gear, fire officials said, allows the department to replace outdated equipment and remain in compliance with federal standards.

Joe McGinn, the vice president of public affairs at Energy Transfer, said the company started its First Responder Fund back in 2016 to serve local police and fire departments and emergency medical service providers in Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

“This program helps provide some of the basics that are needed,” McGinn said.

Since 2016, Energy Transfer has given out over $2 million in funding. In 2021, the fund donated over $280,000 for the purchase of turnout gear, portable radios and vehicle equipment.

The recent donation to the Bloomfield Township Fire Department was the first grant awarded in Michigan, according to McGinn.

“We strive to support first responders in the areas where we operate, through grants for equipment, as well as emergency training,” McGinn said in a statement. “We are honored to support the Bloomfield Township Fire Department with this grant and to play a part in keeping our community safe and protected.”

Fire Chief John LeRoy said Energy Transfer not only has stepped up and helped the department out with the turnout gear, they also provided “critical needed training” for their pipeline that flows through the area.

“That’s how we found out about this grant in the first place,” said LeRoy. “They came to our facility last year and provided three days worth of training to all of our personnel to allow us to learn about what comes through their pipeline and all the aspects of emergency response to it.”

The Fire Department also recently received $181,266 in grant funding from FEMA’s Fiscal Year 2023 Emergency Operations Center grant program to upgrade its Emergency Operations Center. As part of the grant, the township had to match 25% — another $60,422 — for a total of $241,688 in funding to upgrade the Emergency Operations Center.

“We currently have an EOC, but it was not 100% dedicated to emergency management. It is now,” DeRousse said. “It’s a room that’s under lock and key. It will be outfitted with audiovisual equipment, TVs, smart boards, phone systems, roughly 20 laptops dedicated to each position that might be filled in an active emergency in the emergency operations center.”

The Bloomfield Township Fire Department has four professional emergency managers on staff. DeRousse said having an Emergency Operations Center in the township enables the township to declare an emergency, and get state and federal assistance more quickly.

“Municipalities near us that aren’t their own emergency management system have to rely on Oakland County’s emergency managers to provide them with support and financing, whereas we can get that ball rolling much quicker by having our own EOC,” DeRousse added.

For more information, contact the Bloomfield Township Fire Department at  (248) 433-7745.