HAWLEY — The towns of Hawley and Cummington have been awarded $206,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to replace the two fire departments’ self-contained breathing apparatuses.
The grant funding, which will be split evenly between the two towns, will enable Hawley to replace decades-old equipment that supplies firefighters with clean oxygen in smoky and sometimes toxic environments.
“A lot of our equipment, which is essential, is over 20 years old and some of it is failing,” said Hussain Hamdan, a Selectboard member and volunteer firefighter in Hawley. “So something had to be done.”
Hamdan said Hawley and Cummington had previously sought assistance from FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighters Grants Program, but missed the deadline for the application. They tried again and successfully made it through the 2025 grant round, although FEMA awarded them $106,000 less than the towns had asked for.
“We had wanted $312K because the quotes suggested it would be $12,000 an Air-Pak. FEMA, in their infinite wisdom, feels that Air-Paks should cost $10,000,” Hamdan said. “We had some conversations with the vendor and we think that we can make it work. It’s also not entirely necessary that we get 13 of them. We’d like to get 13, but if we get 12, the world’s not going to end.”
Next week, the manufacturer of the self-contained breathing apparatuses will be meeting with the two departments to show them how the equipment works, Hamdan said. The new equipment should arrive in eight to 10 weeks.
Hamdan said he is thankful to FEMA for the funding and grateful to everyone in Hawley and Cummington who worked on the grant application.
“This was a team effort and we made it happen,” Hamdan said.
“Thank you for all that hard work because that’s better caliber equipment,” Selectboard Chair Will Cosby added.
