LIVERMORE – Fire Chief Randy Berry can stop worrying.

The Fire Department has been awarded $89,069 to enhance fire operations and firefighter safety. With up to a 10 percent match required in town money, firefighters will be sporting nearly $100,000 in new gear and equipment. That’s almost five times the Department’s annual budget of nearly $20,000. Voters approved a $20,000 budget this year and an additional $3,000 deficit due an increased number of calls last year, Berry said.

Voters also approved raising up to $10,000 for the town’s share of the match, if the department received this grant.

Berry said he’s been on edge every time the phone rang recently, wondering if he’d get the grant he submitted in April. He had worried about asking for too much for a small town but his brother, Jack Berry, told him to put down what he needed.

He did.

Maine’s congressional senators announced Wednesday evening the winners of fire safety grants from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Livermore was one of seven departments to share $500,277 in FIRE Act Grants.

Randy Berry said Thursday he was excited. He’ll be able to buy up-to-date personal protective equipment. And he won’t have to worry about taking new people on as firefighters and not having enough spare equipment.

“We struggled to stay within our budget,” Berry said. “This is a great opportunity for us. We’ll get modern gear for the guys and air packs that meet new standards.”

In the past, the department has replaced turnout gear two to three sets at a time. The brand they now have hasn’t performed well and has deteriorated badly, Berry wrote in his grant application. In addition, they’ll be adding Nomex pants for forestry fire fighting, something they don’t have now.

Lighter air packs will ease fatigue on firefighters, Berry said. Heart attacks are one of the leading causes of firefighters’ deaths, he said.

In the grant, he sought: 20 complete sets of turnout gear – pants, helmets, jackets, boots – estimated to cost $30,000. Then there are 20 pairs of forestry pants for $1,300, 20 pairs of forestry gloves at $240, 10 new air packs for $40,000 and spare tanks at $8,000.

In terms of fire fighting equipment, there will be 10 portable radios to allow unified command at an incident. They would cost $5,000.

A washer-extractor, which is a special washing machine, would allow the department to comply with National Fire Protection Association standards and eliminate the possibility of contaminating family members or non-firefighting personnel at the local Laundromat. It would also properly remove contaminants and prolong the safety properties of their investment. The price: $4,225.

Another item on the shopping list is large supply hose line that would allow the firefighters to properly equip two fire engines. Twelve units of 100-foot hose is $6,000. A four-gas detector/monitor will help protect firefighters by alerting them to hazardous atmospheres. That cost is $3,000.

And a piston intake relief valve will protect the department’s new pumper truck from damage when the line is charged and ensure that fire fighting operations are not compromised. It will cost $1,200.

“It gives us the opportunity to enjoy some modern technology,” Berry said. “Really the taxpayers of Livermore have been fortunate here. This is a great opportunity for us.”

dperry@sunjournal.com

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