4/12/13 - The Hartland Deerfield Fire Authority has been selected to receive some federal grant funding that will not only benefit the department but the entire area. The grant was submitted last summer and officials just received word yesterday that they were selected to receive around $51,000 in federal funds, with a required 10% match from the authority. Fire Chief Adam Carroll says the funding is designed to get them off the ground with an incident management training program. A portion of the funds will go toward base coursework for the certification program but he says the majority are designated for building a simulation lab, which is where incident commanders would practice their skills and then test out on managing incidents. He says a video-type scenario runs live time and is interactive in that conditions and circumstances change based on decisions that are made or actions taken. Carroll says the grant was hosted by the department but written as a county-wide project. He adds that the simulation lab is fairly unique and there are only a few across the country. Since itâs a certification program, he says there will be ongoing re-certification to maintain it and others across Michigan and the tri-state area would have access to it. Fire departments in eight Michigan communities are expected to get more than $1.3 million in grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency program. (JM)
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