FRYEBURG – The fire department will be replacing old gear soon, using a $47,925 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pay for its needs.

Firefighter Tom Klinepeter, who wrote the grant application, said Monday that the town will be able to replace 30 sets of turnout gear, from boots to hats, with the money.

“We’re wicked excited,” Klinepeter said. “This will be able to replace the gear for everybody that actively operates at a scene.”

Also receiving grants from FEMA under the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program were Rockland, $10,260, and Eddington, $36,000.

This is the second FEMA grant in two years that the Fryeburg fire department has received. Last year it replaced 10 self-contained breathing apparatuses with a spare bottle for each.

Klinepeter said he was encouraged three years ago to try for a grant, which the department did not get.

“I missed the first year, so I did a little research, educated myself and then applied again,” Klinepeter said.

He said his turnout coat was 18 years old and some gear was even older. He said without the grant the town would have had to replace the gear as money allowed.

He said he is unsure if the department will seek a grant in 2004.

“We wouldn’t hesitate to put in again, if we needed it,” Klinepeter said. “If we don’t need it, we won’t. There’s lot of fire departments out there that need help.”

Since June, more than 6,600 fire departments nationwide have received nearly $495 million in grant money.

jsmedley@sunjournal.com

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