Several local fire departments received state grants Thursday for new equipment and for help in protecting firefighters from on-the-job exposure to cancer-causing materials.
Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaize Ingoglia presented funds to the East Manatee, Parrish and Longboat Key fire departments in Manatee County, as well as departments in DeSoto and Hardee counties.
Each department has different plans for the money. East Manatee and Longboat Key were given money from the Firefighter Cancer Decontamination Fund. The Parrish Fire District received a Firefighter Assistance Grant.
Hardee County got money for two new brush fire trucks. DeSoto County was given money for a new training tower.
Ingoglia says the driving force behind funding these departments is to make sure they have the equipment they need, as well as the mental health and overall physical safety of our first responders.
“That’s why we continue traveling the state on these messages, to protect our first responders when it comes to budget time, protecting with the resources that they need to keep their families in their community safe,” he said.
The chief financial officer also saying that he wants to erase the stigma behind mental health for first responders, saying that it is real, and people do frequently need help, “the more we commit to helping them get through some of these tough times so that they do not commit suicide the better off we will be as a state and as a community.”
The funding for decontamination will go toward systems to clean up personnel and equipment after entering a large fire.
