iBlumenthal, DeLauro Join Mayor Picard, Chief Pickering in Announcing Federal Fire Prevention Grant for West Haven

Press Release

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-3) joined West Haven Mayor John Picard and West Shore Fire Department Chief Patrick Pickering Wednesday in announcing a $110,304 federal fire prevention grant to provide safety training and smoke detectors for West Haven residents in low income and elderly housing.

West Haven sought federal assistance to expand and strengthen its public education efforts around smoke detectors following the fatal Christmas Day fire in Stamford in 2012. The home was undergoing renovations and had no working smoke detectors at the time of the fire.

The grant program is administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency in cooperation with the U.S. Fire Administration. In addition to providing smoke detectors for low-income and elderly housing residents, the grant will provide funding for firefighters to go door to door and speak to residents about the importance of smoke detectors, and for officials to perform free safety inspections.

"The Stamford fire was a tragic and heartbreaking reminder of the critical importance of fire prevention and safety measures. I applaud West Haven for its proactive effort to educate residents about the simple, life saving measures they can take to protect themselves and their families. This effort will save lives, and I will continue to work with the Connecticut delegation to advocate for additional funds to expand and continue such essential safety outreach statewide," Blumenthal said.

"Prevention is absolutely crucial to keeping our communities safe and keeping tragedies from occurring in the first place," DeLauro said. "This funding for West Haven will go a long way towards empowering families and reducing possible injuries, or even deaths caused by fires and other dangerous situations."

"I am grateful to Senator Blumenthal and the rest of our federal delegation for securing this $110,000 grant for West Haven's three fire departments, which will help provide vital, lifesaving smoke detectors for low-income and elderly residents in every corner of our city," West Haven Mayor John M. Picard said. "This important funding will further support our departments' critical role in ensuring that quality fire prevention and safety programs are delivered to residents in an effort to save lives."

The grant is the 25th firefighting grant awarded in Connecticut in Fiscal Year 2013. Middletown received $1.14 million to hire eight additional firefighters and Waterbury received $2.9 million to hire new fire recruits through the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) and Assistance to Firefighters grant programs administered by FEMA. Hartford, Milford, New Britain, New Milford, Brookfield, Stratford, Bristol, East Woodstock, Killingly, Plainfield, Willington, Seymour, Middletown, East Hartford, Shelton, Norwalk, Torrington, Southington and Waterbury also received grants to support operations and safety measures. Connecticut Public Television also recently received an award to produce a series of fire safety educational programs to air on their network during the upcoming holiday season.

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