Friday, October 16, 2026
The Inwood Fire Department and the Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department were awarded $293,333 in federal funding for protective grade and equipment upgrades. Both departments applied for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program, administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help fire departments obtain necessary equipment.
Inwood received more than $220,476, which will help purchase a new ambulance. Chief of Department Josiyah Green said the department’s current ambulance is more than 15 years old. He said the average cost of an ambulance is between $220,000 and $300,000.
Green, whose been with the department for 11 years, five as a chief, said some of the ambulance’s cost comes from its stretcher — a power-loading stretcher, which uses an automated loading system to lift and secure patients without straining the medical crew — an $80,000 investment.
“You also have your equipment that you need to keep the ambulance state certified,” Green said. “A monitor is pretty expensive, AEDs [as well], so on top of just the cost of the ambulance itself, the equipment does add up.”
Green said the department received 60 calls requiring an ambulance in Septmeber. From Oct. 10 to Oct. 12, he said, the department has had 15.
He credited the Inwood Fire District’s assistant district manager, Melissa Rivelli, for securing the funding.
Lawrence-Cedarhurst received $72,857, which the department will use to replace and upgrade turnout gear. Ex-chief Michael Beilinson said the department will look to purchase at least 15 sets of gear and estimated each would cost $7,000.
The National Fire Protection Agency, Beilinson said, recommends replacing fire turnout gear after 10 years. There are variables to that, he said, such as how active a person is in the department and the nature of the call. An example, Beilinson said, was on Aug. 19, when a tanker carrying gasoline overturned in North Lawrence.
“Your boots absorb all that gasoline,” he said. “And the foam and stuff, that degrades the boots and turnout gear. Depending on what you encounter, that determines the lifespan of your turnout gear.”
