DURHAM – Durham Fire and Rescue has been awarded a $119,306 federal grant, the fourth since early 2003. The local matching share of the grant will be $13,256, making a total of $132,562, available for equipment upgrades.

The grant was the largest in a total of $651,239 in grants awarded by the Department of Homeland Security in its latest round of grants to nine fire departments in Maine this week, according to U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins.

The awards are part of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program and are to assist in fire operations and firefighter safety training. “It is critical that federal resources are allocated to better equip our firefighters which, in turn, will assist in the effectiveness to protect their communities,” Snowe and Collins said in a joint statement.

Durham’s grant will be used to replace turnout gear for 35 to 40 firefighters, upgrade air packs and replace all that are more than 10 years old, Fire Chief Bill St. Michel said.

Also, current air bottles, which have reached their useful life of about 25 years, will be upgraded to lighter-weight bottles, and the department will be adding a cascade system breathing air compressor, which will enable them to refill air bottles at the local station. Currently, St. Michel said, bottles are taken to the Freeport Fire Department, 15 miles away, to be refilled.

Saying he was “more than extremely pleased” with the latest grant, St. Michel attributed much of his department’s success in winning grants to the expertise of its grant writer, Chris Logan, a department member who has written three of the four grants received in the last 1 years. “He’s a great grant writer.”

The largest grant to be received by Durham in the past year was $225,000 toward a new fire-rescue truck that is currently on order, for which the town is providing about $25,000 in matching funds.

The town has been very supportive of the Fire and Rescue Department in recent years, supporting a first responders unit and a $400,000 renovation and expansion to the six-bay station.

Residents at the March town meeting voted to authorize Durham Fire and Rescue to apply for a state license to become the town’s first transporting ambulance service. It recently received state approval and is slated to begin on Saturday, Aug. 14, St. Michel said.