Bethel Fire Dept. Gets Grant From State’s Public Safety Dept.

By Mary Anderson

The Bethel Fire Department has received the good news that it has been awarded $13,341 from the State of Vermont’s Department of Public Safety, Division of Vermont Homeland Security.

This money is specifically awarded to help the fire department upgrade their radios and communications system. When added to the amount received through a FEMA grant a few weeks earlier, the fire department has now raised over $20,700 in grants.

According to assistant chief David Aldrighetti, the amount remaining to be raised with taxpayers’ money would be around $16,500. Aldrighetti is quick to point out that "the two grants saved the taxpayers a little over 50%!"

The final amount to be put before voters at town meeting is still uncertain, as the fire department needs to find out how the two grants will work together. They also need to do more testing with the radio signals to find out if they will need an additional repeater station.

The purpose of the new equipment is to allow the Bethel Fire Department to communicate directly with White River Valley Ambulance and surrounding towns’ emergency personnel. Currently, Bethel is the only town in the region still on low band radio and this has created communication problems including delays for the fire department. They expect the new equipment to rectify the situation.

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