United States Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed, alongside Reps. Seth Magaziner and Gabe Amo, announced on Aug. 26 that Rhode Island’s fire departments would receive over $2 million in federal grants.
The Union Fire District of South Kingstown received a $648,270 grant and its funds are going to be used to enhance its Recruitment and Retention Program and overall improve marketing strategies to draw in more volunteer firefighters to their program, according to Fire Chief Steven Pinch.
In the last 36 years, volunteer firefighters have decreased by nearly 200,000, according to the U.S. Fire Administration. One volunteer firefighter, TJ Lee, joined the department at 16.
“This grant is vital to our community because it will enhance the training and overall increase the membership of our department,” Lee said.
Several programs will be funded with the money from the four-year grant the Union Fire District of South Kingstown received, including a new program at South Kingstown High School, lifelong savings accounts for volunteers and public relations to advertise their department.
“Being able to train new people and hopefully having new members will be good for our
department,” Lee said.
A class that allows students to learn the basic skills of firefighting has been added to South Kingstown High School’s academic curriculum. This class requires students to join the fire department and have training from professional firefighters. The grant will be used to fund the class, the training for the students and their equipment.
“I teach 18 kids in the class, and that means 18 more volunteer firefighters in our program,” Pinch said.
Funds from the grant will also be used to pay the department’s public relations team. They have continued to advertise through social media and other platforms to attract new members to their program.
“One is you have to get the people in, and then two, you have to have programs that keep the people that you have,” Pinch said.
Pinch added that volunteer firefighters will now have a long-term savings plan that they will see increase by meeting a certain number of calls and training per year.
“That money will stay in the account and with them until they are ready to retire,” Pinch said.
This is not the only grant that the Union District of South Kingstown has received. Two years ago, they received a grant to help purchase new equipment. It was then that they had the idea for the high school class to help support new recruitment for their department.
“This program was definitely well received from the company that grants the grant, so we were happy about that,” Pinch said.
Fire departments in Pascoag, Foster, West Warwick, Woonsocket and Central Falls were also selected to receive grants, funded by the Assistance to Firefighters Grants Program, the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency.