On Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 the Fire Company received official notification from the Pennsylvania State Fire Commissioner's Office that two more grants have been awarded to our organization totaling $18,468.47 through the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.

Under the grant program, $22 million will be allocated for Pennsylvania fire companies and $3 million for ambulance service units. More than 2,700 volunteer organizations took advantage of the $25 million program during past years.

The Westwood Fire Company was awarded $13,204.10 for our Fire Grant and $5,264.37 for our Ambulance Grant. The Fire Grant will go towards the expenses incurred to place reflective lettering on our new Ambulance and the purchase of personal protective equipment. The Ambulance Division grant will pay for the installation costs of our two way radio equipment in our new ambulance and additional funds will be directed to EMS personal protective equipment.

The base award amount this year to a Fire Company was $9,500. However, additional funds were granted to Fire Companies who had Nationally Certified firefighters on their roster. For this, we received $3,704.10 in bonus funds for our training levels.

This grant program is a great asset to all Fire and Ambulance companies throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and we would like to thank State Fire Commissioner Mann and his staff for their assistance in providing this program annually to our volunteers.