BY ADAM ATKINSONNorth Country This Week

WEST POTSDAM — A grant which has helped fund the county’s Fire Training Center in West Potsdam is now available to area departments who apply for it in the current funding round.

The Garrett W. Loomis Firefighters Fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation will award up to $10,000 this fall to enhance fire education and training across the region, the Foundation announced recently. This opportunity is presented in collaboration with the Garrett W. Loomis Foundation.

The goal of this grant program is to assist area fire departments with funding to augment fire education and training that helps their organization prepare, grow and protect the communities they serve, the Foundation said.

“The purpose of this charitable fund stewarded through the Northern New York Community Foundation is to help keep our area firefighters – professional and volunteer – prepared and trained to serve the communities they protect,” Max DelSignore, Foundation Vice President, told North Country This Week.

“This grant program is an opportunity to support existing or emerging fire education and training needs at a hyperlocal level, and hopefully, encourage thoughtful collaboration among St. Lawrence County fire departments,” DelSignore said.

If awarded, the money can be used for continuing education through workshops or seminars, fire training equipment and technology, on-site resources (training props or educational materials), improvements to regional fire training centers and guest speakers for trainings.

The funding opportunity is open to departments in St. Lawrence County, as well as those in Jefferson and Lewis counties.

In St. Lawrence County, the grant has traditionally funded training for local departments utilizing the county training center.

“For many years, the Garrett W. Loomis Firefighters Fund has supported the St. Lawrence County Fire Training Center. Grants were awarded to provide equipment for education classes, training props and other key enhancements made at the facility. This new grant opportunity will allow the fund to directly expand its reach and impact into more communities,” DelSignore said.

Local fire departments are encouraged to apply online at bit.ly/grant-portal. Collaboration with other fire departments on a grant application is encouraged, said the Foundation.

The deadline to apply is Friday, November 14.

Any questions regarding the grant opportunity can be sent to DelSignore at max@nnycf.org.

The Garrett W. Loomis Firefighters Fund was established to honor Mr. Loomis, a Sackets Harbor native, who was killed in the line of duty battling a local silo fire in 2010.

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