EMS Grants News and Articles

By Dick Lindsay
The Berkshire Eagle

PITTSFIELD, Pa. — The city is receiving a $427,000 federal grant to boost its firefighting ranks and initially saves taxpayers money.

The funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will pay for Pittsfield hiring four new full-time firefighters for two years, covering salaries and benefits. However, grant stipulates the city must fund the positions for a third year and avoid manpower reductions during the three-year period in order to keep the money.

The grant funding cycle is from July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2013.

City fire officials expect to hire the four new firefighters in two months who will undergo several weeks of training before being put on active duty.

"By having one extra firefighter per shift, we ll be saving $200,000 in overtime each year," said Deputy Fire Chief Mark Cancilla. "The additional firefighters will help us cover someone on vacation or away for more training."

Cancilla continued, "Our city will also be safer as we ll go from 20 to 21 firefighters on duty at a time."

The grant comes from the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program created by Homeland Security to help both paid and volunteer fire departments increase their number of trained "front line" firefighters. The Pittsfield Fire Department will increase its ranks from 60 to 64 and overall staffing from 90 to 94 which includes the fire chief and 26 other fire officers.

City officials want to keep the four firefighting positions when the three-year grant period runs out, citing how the cost of the permanent jobs is covered by the $200,000 savings in overtime.

Mayor James M. Ruberto finds the trade-off will keep firefighters fresh for duty.

"I ve always been concerned about the overtime from a health and safety point of view," Ruberto said.

Ward 6 Councilor John M. Krol Jr. agrees with the city s philosophy of having more firefighters, rather than relying on overtime to cover staffing shortages.

"A high quality product in the Pittsfield Fire Department will keep staff fresher," said Krol, chairman of the City Council s public safety subcommittee. "We need to provide city services and do so more efficiently."

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