Money will fund protective equipment for local firefighters, along with fire safety education for students and seniors
BOSTON – House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr. (R-North Reading), State Representative Richard M. Haggerty (D-Woburn) and State Senator Jason M. Lewis (D-Winchester) joined with Reading Fire Chief Gregory Burns and Assistant Chief Richard Nelson this week to announce the Reading Fire Department has been awarded three state grants totaling $11,703.74 to purchase protective equipment for its first responders and to provide fire and life safety education outreach to local students and older residents .
The funding includes $3,604.32 provided under the second round of Fiscal Year 2025 grants awarded through the Firefighter Safety Equipment Grant program, which reimburses fire departments for the purchase of more than 100 types of essential firefighter safety equipment, with an emphasis on items that help departments meet current National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards. In January, the Reading Fire Department received a Firefighter Safety Equipment Grant of $18,991, bringing the total amount of funding received by Reading under this program in 2025 to $22,595.32.
“We will be using the grant to fund the purchase of structural firefighting gear, helmets, boots, and gloves for new firefighters,” said Chief Burns. “The average cost to equip a firefighter with just their structural firefighting protective gear is over $6,000. To increase safety for our firefighters we are purchasing emergency rope escape systems that can be used to escape from floors above grade without use of a ladder. To improve the safety of motor vehicle accident scenes we will purchase vehicle extrication equipment that includes lifting air bags and vehicle stabilization equipment.”
The Reading Fire Department has also been awarded $5,699.64 under the Student Awareness of Fire Education (SAFE) grant program, which was created by the Legislature in 1995 to help fire departments partner with their local public schools to teach students in grades pre-K through 12 about fire safety and has been linked to a 79% decrease in child fire fatalities. Reading is receiving another $2,399.78 in grant funding under the Senior SAFE program, which was established in 2014 to help fund fire safety presentations at local senior centers and councils on aging, as well as home visits to assist seniors with installing smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.
“We rely on our first responders to keep our communities safe, but they often find themselves exposed to dangerous and hazardous conditions when responding to a call that can place their own personal safety at risk,” said Representative Jones. “This grant funding will go a long way to ensuring the members of the Reading Fire Department have the proper equipment to safely perform their jobs, while also providing critical resources for the department to deliver important fire safety messaging and training directly to Reading’s students and seniors.”
“Our first responders play a very important role in keeping our community safe, regularly putting themselves in harm’s way,” said Representative Haggerty. “These grants will help the Reading Fire Department provide its members with the necessary equipment they need to do their jobs safely and effectively, and the resources to do fire safety outreach to our community’s youth and senior residents.”
“Fire safety education and equipment are critical to keeping our communities and firefighters safe,” said Senator Lewis. “I’m pleased that the Reading Fire Department is receiving this state support to continue community education programs that teach young people and older residents about fire safety and prevention, and to ensure that our brave firefighters have the equipment they need to protect themselves.”
The Reading Fire Department’s SAFE program targets the nearly 700 Reading students enrolled in pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten and first grade, with a MetroFire SAFE trailer used by firefighters to visit local schools and teach students critical fire safety lessons. The trailer is designed with two areas, a living room/kitchen and a bedroom that each focus on particular hazards within a home.
Classes of 12-23 students are divided into three groups that rotate through individual “learning stations” in the trailer staffed by firefighters. Station 1 teaches students that firefighters are friends and provides them with a firsthand look at firefighter turnout gear. Station 2 focuses on cooking safety and hazards, stove hazards, hot water hazards, and fireplace hazards, while Station 3 teaches students about crawling low in smoke, “stop drop and roll” techniques, having two ways out, feeling for hazards, having a home escape plan, and knowing to “get out stay out” in the event of a fire.
“We also have a few “out-of-school” events at the Library and YMCA,” said Assistant Chief Nelson. “Our firefighters read books and have discussions that reinforce fire safety in the home as well has home escape plans.”
For the Senior SAFE program, the Reading Fire Department partners with the Town of Reading’s Elder and Humans Services Department to offer presentations and discussions with older residents about fire prevention and fall prevention techniques, and to identify and assist seniors who need the department’s help.
“We provide and install smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors for seniors who cannot afford these critical life safety devices,” said Assistant Chief Nelson. “Our firefighters will also install Knox boxes for elderly residents and bed shakers to alert elderly residents who are hearing impaired.”
