St. Marys Fire Department to receive nearly $21,000 through provincial Fire Protection Grant

Funds used to purchase additional protective gear

By Galen Simmons

The St. Marys Fire Department will receive $20,900 this year through an Ontario Fire Protection Grant, which the department has allocated for the purchase of additional protective gear and equipment.

At the Jan. 27 St. Marys council meeting, St. Marys Fire Chief Phil West told councillors the town’s fire department had been approved for the provincial grant for the second year in a row. Last year, West said the department received roughly half the grant it will get this year, and that money was put toward equipment and gear aimed at protecting firefighters from exposures to cancer-causing chemicals.

“We focused on some touch items, so we got an extra pair of gloves, a balaclava which is very big contact for firefighters where they can get chemical exposure on the face and the chin and the neck, and we got a (decontamination) machine basically to spray firefighters’ gear off before they return to the hall,” West said.

“This year, we focused on airway and some protection again, so we put an application in for an adaptor that fits on our current SCBA masks, and two filters can attach to it for overhaul. When we do air monitoring, it’s safe to do so but we want extra filtration for that.”

Additionally, West said the fire department will purchase 24 sets of interior helmet liners and six more oxygen bottles to allow firefighters to perform additional duties after a fire is extinguished.

While West said the grant funding will cover nearly the entire cost of these purchases, he told councillors the town will need to cover one per cent of the HST, equating to just $323.

First announced in the Ontario government’s 2024 budget and included again in the 2025 budget, the Fire Protection Grant program assists fire departments in acquiring critical equipment to enhance firefighter health and safety, and minor infrastructure at the local level. Specifically, these grants are aimed at supporting cancer prevention, enhanced broadband and internet connectivity, and lithium-ion incident response.

According to West’s report to council, recent statistics have shown firefighters die of cancer at a rate up to four times higher than the general population. On average, 50 to 60 firefighters die of cancer each year in Canada, and up to half of those firefighters live in Ontario. Contaminated PPE may expose firefighters to hazardous biological and chemical contaminants and reduce the effectiveness of the protection it is intended to provide.