BREWSTER – On Thursday, July 7, the Brewster Fire Department conducted a swearing in and promotion ceremony in front of a large crowd of department members, families, and town officials including the Board of Selectmen. During the program Call Firefighter/Paramedic Michael Herrmann (second from left above) and Call Firefighter/Paramedic Jared Hogg (second from right above) were sworn in as new career members of the department. In addition, Career Firefighter/EMT Daniel Kimball (at right above) was promoted to Captain/EMT and Captain/Paramedic Kevin Varley (at left above) was sworn in as the department’s first full-time career Deputy Fire Chief.
Brewster Fire Chief Robert Moran said, “These individuals should be commended for their dedication and commitment to our organization and the processes required to obtain their new positions. We are confident they will excel in their new assignments and continue to provide high levels of professional emergency medical and fire suppression services to the residents of Brewster and our surrounding communities.”
Department Receives $370,000 Federal Assistance to Firefighters (AFG) Grant
On Friday July 8, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) awarded the Brewster Fire Department an Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) in the amount of $370,000 to purchase portable and mobile radio communication equipment. The current communication equipment used by the department is approximately 20 years old and is failing and problematic to maintain due to its age and lack of available parts.
The new state-of-the-art digital radios will significantly improve the communication capabilities and safety of firefighters operating at emergency incidents while also improving the department’s ability to communicate with surrounding Federal, State and local emergency first responders. Additionally, the new equipment will meet all future operating requirements for the Massachusetts State Police radio network when the system is converted to a digital based configuration in the next two years as mandated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Brewster Fire Chief Moran stated, “The portable and mobile radios being funded through the AFG Grant will significantly enhance the safety of each of our firefighters operating at emergency incidents and will complete our goal of providing our fire suppression staff with the highest quality, state-of-the-art communication equipment available in today’s market. Our organization would like to thank our Board of Selectmen and our residents for supporting the application, FEMA for recognizing our needs and Congressman Keating and Senator Warren for their unwavering personal support of this application.”
Media release and photo provided by the Brewster Fire Department
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