COOPERSBURG, Pa. - The Coopersburg Fire Company has secured six figures of state budget money.
A spokesperson for state Sen. Pat Browne (R-Lehigh) said the $100,000 grant comes from the 2022-23 state budget, and will be used to buy new breathing equipment for firefighters.
- The Coopersburg Fire Company has secured $100,000 of the 2022-23 PA state budget
- Money will be used to buy breathing equipment for firefighters
- State Sen. Pat Browne's office announced the grant
- Fire departments in the Lehigh Valley have been struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic
Coopersburg Fire Company is run entirely by volunteers, and responds to over 150 calls a year. It has been in operation since 1904, and has 33 firefighters, and 13 auxiliary members, according to a media release.
Struggling departments
For the last few years, fire departments in the Lehigh Valley and across Pennsylvania have been struggling.There has been a push to give them more and better resources — which was reaffirmed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Governor Tom Wolf's office announced in Septemberthat more that $762,000 in fire assistance grants were awarded to volunteer department across the state, including several in the Lehigh Valley.
A new round of funding fire fire companies, emergency medical services, and volunteer rescue squads will be available in 2023 from the Office of the State Fire Commissioner.
New breathing equipment
The new state budget money for Coopersburg is set to be used to buy new breathing safety equipment, which is an air compressor machine to quickly load oxygen into a firefighters' air tank and allows them to get clean air smokey places.
“The members of the Coopersburg Fire Company greatly appreciate Senator Browne going to bat for them in Harrisburg and finding funding for a piece of equipment we greatly needed,” Bill Rosenberger, Coopersburg Fire Company Secretary, said in a statement.
