Barrington Fire Department lands $532,000 grant

FEMA grant to cover salaries, benefits for additional firefighters

EastBayRI.com ·

Before Barrington residents voted on whether to fund four additional firefighter positions, work was already underway to off-set the salaries and benefits for the increased manpower.

Barrington Fire Chief Gerald Bessette and Captain Jason Fanion filed a FEMA grant application in February, hoping that their request would be fulfilled by the federal government. In July, the local officials learned recently that it had.

The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant was awarded to the Barrington Fire Department this month. It will cover 75 percent of the salaries and benefits for four additional firefighters for the first two years of their employment and 35 percent of the salaries and benefits in the third year.

"It totals $532,542," said Barrington Town Manager Jim Cunha. 

"The effort it took to put this (grant application) package together was phenomenal," he added.

Mr. Cunha said the grant money will allow town officials to use the previously budgeted money — in May, residents approved approximately $270,000 for the four additional firefighter positions — for other needs in the fire department. Mr. Cunha said the money could be moved to a different department's budget or the general reserve account but those moves would need town council approval. 

Captain Fanion said the grant application process was very competitive, with hundreds if not thousands of fire departments across the country seeking the grant money. 

The fact that FEMA officials decided to give Barrington the money should serve as a reminder that the department has been understaffed, Mr. Fanion said.

"It's definitely clear that we're short-staffed," he said. 

Mr. Cunha said Barrington was the only community in Rhode Island to receive a SAFER grant from FEMA, and one of only a handful from across New England. 

Capt. Fanion added that the SAFER grant is one of the more difficult grants to secure. He said he spent more than a month working on the grant application package.