PENNSYLVANIA, USA — More than $2 million in federal grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be heading to firefighters and first responders across northeastern Pennsylvania.
"It's a big big asset, a big help to us getting this is kind of funding to assist us," said Chief Matthew Pritchyk, Scott Township Hose Company.
In Lackawanna County, Scott Township Hose Company volunteers will use the funds to purchase new equipment. The hose company received the largest grant amount in the county, for more than $180,000.
"So we're gonna do is we're gonna be purchasing new air packs to update our older air packs that over time have become harder to get parts for," explained Chief Pritchyk. "We're looking to get six radios to update for one of our trucks."
Not far away in Scranton, the grant money will help firefighters even after removing their uniforms.
"The day the group was coming in to set up a to conduct physicals was the day we were having a benefit for one of our members currently undergoing cancer treatment," said Deputy Chief Dan Hallowich, Scranton Fire Department.
Lieutenant Kelly Hopkins is the latest firefighter with the department who has been diagnosed with cancer after decades of battling blazes. A problem Deputy Chief Dan Hallowich says he's not only seen here at home but in departments across the country.
"Cancer is the number one leading cause of death and firefighters according to NIAS right now," said Chief Hallowich. "So we wanted to direct a lot of our efforts towards being preventative with the measures we're taking that we can invest in our firefighters.
Hallowich says that the $68,000 in grants the Scranton Fire Department received will fund its 75 members' physical health exams and annual cancer screenings.
"It put us in a good position this year to direct the funds to firefighter health measures."
For more on how the federal grant money will benefit first responders across Northeastern Pennsylvania, click here.