Agencies to receive $48K in grant money

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Two area emergency-response agencies will be receiving a major financial boost that promises to allow them to improve their response capabilities.

Nearly $48,000 in U.S. Department of Homeland Security grant money will go to the county’s Hazardous-Materials Response agency and the Youngstown Police Department’s bomb squad, said Dennis O’Hara, the Mahoning County Emergency Management Agency’s director.

The funds will provide equipment to allow both agencies to improve their ability to respond to chemical spills, ordnance removal and other duties and crises, O’Hara said during Friday’s county commissioners meeting.

Specifically, the HazMat team will receive fully encapsulated, self-contained life suits to replace those that are likely between 5 and 10 years old.

In addition, the money will be used for a new meter that will increase the team’s detection capabilities in identifying various chemicals, he explained.

The team is made up of firefighters and emergency medical technicians who respond to chemical spills, contain toxic-gas leaks, assist law-enforcement personnel in dealing with methamphetamine labs and handle other related emergencies.

Also, the bomb squad’s capabilities for ordnance removal, detonation and disposal that are in line with current technology will be enhanced, O’Hara said.

The equipment could arrive as soon as early next year, the EMA director said.

The next meeting is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Coitsville Township Government Center, 3711 McCartney Road.