Mansfield council approves $156K federal grant for fire department staffing, training and equipment

On any given day, Mansfield answers its fire calls with 20 firefighters spread across five stations — five at Station 1, four each at Stations 2 and 3, four at Station 4 and three at Station 6. The overtime hours that help keep enough firefighters on the rig when one of them is out sit on the council table this week, inside a $156,752 federal grant Mansfield City Council is scheduled to vote on at its October 6 regular meeting in the City Council Chambers.

The money comes from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program, earmarked for firefighter overtime, specialized training and new equipment.

What the vote decides

Council's vote both accepts the federal award and appropriates the money, clearing the way for the dollars to reach the department and its stations. That puts a federal funding source behind the overtime that keeps enough firefighters on Mansfield's engines and trucks, the training those crews take and the gear they carry when the call goes out.

A third straight year

This would be the third consecutive year the department has received the grant. Before this recent run, the Mansfield Fire Department had gone without the award since 2018, according to Fire Chief Dan Crow.

For the firefighters clocking the overtime and the neighbors they answer to, the October 6 vote is the moment the $156,752 either lands or the department is left to cover the overtime, training and equipment lines without the federal grant.

The room where it's decided

The vote comes up at council's regular meeting October 6 in the City Council Chambers, where neighbors can be in the room when the decision is made.