7am News, Sports and Obits
Latest WGIL news
Click to play or
Right click and "Save Target As" to download
Click for Galesburg, Illinois Forecast
Home - Cancellations - Community Events - Contact Us - Mornings - News - Obituaries - Pictures - Programs - Special Events Audio - Sports - Weather
Hare Praises Galesburg Officials for Grants
Two groups of local first responders will be receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars from the federal government, and Congressman Phil Hare says he's glad to make sure the money gets to them.

Senator Dick Durbin's office officially announced the grants earlier this month, but Saturday, Hare spoke of the over $250,000 in federal money that will be coming the way of both the Galesburg Fire Department, and the Galesburg Hospitals Ambulance Service.

Hare says Galesburg is lucky to have received the Assistance to Firefighters grants they did.

"This is a very competitive program," Hare said. "To tell you how well-written these grants were, and how hard [Galesburg and GHAS] worked on getting these grants, only 15% of all grant applications were awarded. So, competition was fierce, and my congratulations go out to all of you, who had anything to do at all with writing the grant, applying for the grant, or lobbying for the grant."

GHAS Field Supervisor Brian Anderson says their money will go to purchase a new ambulance. But Anderson says it won't be just any ambulance, it will be a special type of vehicle that is crucially needed.

"What we wrote a grant for was to start a bariatric program," Anderson said. "Between us, the Fire Department, and the Police Department, (we deal with) kind of a growing epidemic of weight problems in America, and also spawns other health issues. For our safety, our backs, lifting these individuals, caring for these individuals, all takes special care, techniques, schooling, and equipment."

Interim Fire Chief Tom Simkins says the fire stations in question will soon have something they've not had before thanks to $80,000 of federal money.

"It's very, very wonderful to know that we have all three of our fire stations covered by automatic sprinkler systems," Simkins said. "Our Fremont (Street) Station...when we built it, we put a sprinkler system in. The two older stations are now getting funding. The Central Station...and the Brooks Street Station...will now have sprinklers thanks to this grant."

The city is required to provide a 10% match to the grant money. The fire department has also received another $50,000 for the purchase of smoke alarms that will be installed in home that don’t have them.


(Galesburg Interim Fire Chief Tom Simkins speaks Saturday about the grants his department received, while Mayor Sal Garza, Brian Anderson of GHAS, and Rep. Phil Hare listen. WGIL News Story and Photo by Will Stevenson.)
05 22 10 by Newsroom
News management powered by Xpression News

Click here for the WGIL News Archive

Click here for national news

The following provision applies to all visitors (which shall include persons and representatives of legal entities, whether such representatives are persons or digital engines of a kind that crawls, indexes, scrapes, copies, stores or transmits digital content). By accessing this Web site or digital service, you specifically acknowledge and agree that: (i) Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium; (ii) No Associated Press materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use; (iii) The Associated Press will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing; (iv) The Associated Press is an intended third party beneficiary of these terms and conditions and it may exercise all rights and remedies available to it; and (v) The Associated Press reserves the right to audit possible unauthorized commercial use of AP materials or any portion thereof at any time.