Lynbrook Fire Department awarded two FEMA grants

Sue Grieco/Herald Lynbrook and South Hempstead were two recipients of a regional grant. Pictured are Thomas Devaney with Commissionor Donald Spatz of South Hempstead FD, and Commissioner Pasquale Rayano of Lakeview FD with Chief Edward Hynes of the Lynbrook Fire Department.

Susan Grieco/Herald

The Lynbrook Fire Department was awarded two grants by the Federal Emergency Management Agency over the summer and now has access to the funds, which will be used for recruitment and retention.

Kevin Mulrooney, the vice president of Grant-Guys and writer of the grants for the Lynbrook Fire Department, said one department being awarded two grants is “super unusual.” Mulrooney added that he has only seen it once before in his 10 years of grant writing.

The first grant that was awarded to the L.F.D. is part of a regional grant that is shared with 12 other departments in western Nassau County, totaling $500,600. The L.F.D. was also awarded an individual grant for $115,555. Both grants will help offset costs when new recruits are added.

Mulrooney pointed out that when a new member is ready to be sworn in they must first undergo a physical, get the appropriate training and be provided the proper gear, which costs thousands of dollars. These grants will go toward producing recruitment brochures and advertisements as well as offsetting the costs when those recruits officially join the department. The individual award is a no-match grant, which will be allotted over the next four years. The award was made under the federal “safer” award program.

“They’re trying to improve services,” Mulrooney said of the village government, “they’re trying to improve firefighter safety and they’re trying to keep local taxes down.”