Middletown FD receives $114K grant BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer MIDDLETOWN - Sixty-six feet belonging to 33 firefighters in Middletown will be receiving new boots, thanks to a recent grant awarded to the Middletown Township Fire Department. The fire department will receive $114,320 in funding, which will serve to purchase four thermal imaging cameras used to locate victims, lost firefighters, and hidden fires. Several lengths of hose and 66 firefighting boots will also be purchased with this grant, according to a press release from U.S. Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.). The legislators announced Dec. 27 that two New Jersey fire departments would be awarded grants from the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency. The grants, awarded in cooperation with the U.S. Fire Administration, will be used to enhance the operations of the Middletown department. "Every dollar in grant money means one less dollar of taxpayer money that is needed for essential equipment, services and infrastructure maintenance," Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger said at the township reorganization meeting Jan. 6. "The $114,000 grant is something to be proud of obtaining. They work hard to get these grants." The awards are made under the Fiscal Year 2005 Assistance to Firefighter Grants Program. "I am pleased that the first responders in these municipalities will be able to expand their operating capabilities to better serve their residents," Menendez said in the press release. "To address the needs of New Jersey fire departments is a priority because they are in the business of saving lives." The Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program awards grants directly to fire departments and nonaffiliated emergency medical services (EMS) organizations to enhance their abilities with respect to fire and fire-related hazards.