ALLEN TWP., Pa. – For small fire companies, police departments and EMS agencies, keeping first responders safe can come with a significant price tag.<\/p>\n
At the Allen Township Fire Company, a recently purchased radio system connected to the Northampton County 911 center cost more than $200,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is one of the new style radios we purchased,\u201d Fire Chief Dale Hassler said while showing the equipment.<\/p>\n
The radios are carried throughout the department\u2019s apparatus and kept near firefighters\u2019 air packs so they are readily available during emergency calls.<\/p>\n
The next major expense is already approaching.<\/p>\n
Hassler said replacing the department\u2019s air bottles and breathing apparatus will cost about $235,000.<\/p>\n
Asked whether managing those expenses creates stress, Hassler said his role has changed over the years.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome stress,\u201d he said. \u201cBecoming more and more of a manager today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Northampton County helped cover about a quarter of the department\u2019s radio costs through its annual Public Safety Grant Program.<\/p>\n
The county distributes about $600,000 each year to smaller public safety departments, with funding coming from casino table-game revenue. Applications for the 2026 grants are now being accepted, with individual awards of up to $20,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cPublic safety is such a crucial issue, especially when you need it,\u201d Northampton County Executive Tara Zrinski said. \u201cThat\u2019s not the time that you want to be thinking about how it\u2019s being paid for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Allen Township Fire Company has received about $30,000 through the program over the past several years.<\/p>\n
For Hassler, a 50-year veteran of the department, the demands of the job have changed dramatically. He said call volume has increased about 400% over the past three decades.<\/p>\n
Volunteer firefighters still are not paid for their service. Keeping them protected, however, can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n
Asked how he feels knowing firefighters now have an added layer of protection through newer equipment, Hassler had a simple answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot better,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALLEN TWP., Pa. – For small fire companies, police departments and EMS agencies, keeping first responders safe can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[111382,111383,153,155,154,4579,434,111384],"class_list":["post-263630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-allen-township-fire-company","tag-allen-twp","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-first-responder","tag-northampton-county","tag-responder-equipment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}