West Winfield FD Earns FEMA Grant

The West Winfield Fire Department and Chief Sean Murphy announced Friday that it has been awarded a total of $64,840.95 in funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Assistance to Firefighters grant program.

This is part of funding in the 2025 grant period.

The announcement was officially made by FEMA earlier this week.

Coupled with the Village of West Winfield’s required match of $3,242.05 a project total of $68,083 is allocated for the purposes of purchasing and installing a fully automatic exhaust removal system for the fire station.

West Winfield’s fire station currently does not have a modern air scrubbing system to remove airborne contaminants.

These are associated with off-gassing of turnout gear, hoses, vehicles and other firefighting equipment housed within the building.

The installed system will facilitate 360-degree air movement, and allow for highly efficient and continuous filtering of the entire apparatus bay area.

This will remove virtually all airborne contaminants. With the acceptance of this grant, the Village of West Winfield Fire Department has received in excess of $460,000 in AFG grant funding in the last four years.

This represents a near half-million-dollar taxpayers’ savings to provide vitally important equipment necessary for the sustainability of modern firefighting protection for the greater Winfield area.

The department extends its sincerest appreciation to the members of the Henry Hiteman Engine & Hose Company, the Village of West Winfield, and the department’s partners at Grantmasters.

Without their steadfast commitment, the success of our grant programs would not be what it is.

Lastly, the volunteer fire service cannot be what it is without the backing of its community, no matter the location.

Support from the citizens of the greater Winfield area is exceptional. Murphy said the department is incredibly thankful for the community’s continued efforts toward maintaining vital emergency services protection in our area.

According to FEMA, the award was part of the agency’s more than $27 million in grant funding for fire departments and other first responder organizations in New Jersey and New York announced this week.

Other local departments that received funding include Utica, Frankfort and Vernon.

Fire departments around the country received a total of almost $400 million from FEMA to upgrade facilities and equipment.