Select Board accepts $1.399M SAFER grant to add five firefighters; also OKs FEMA grant for station exhaust system

The Foxborough Select Board voted to accept two grants for the fire department: a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) award totaling $1,399,125.95 to fund five firefighters for three years, and a FEMA Assistance to Firefighters grant (approximately $76,181) to replace the station’s exhaust‑collection system.

Fire/EMS leadership presented data showing increased run volumes, longer hospital transport times and frequent simultaneous ambulance responses. The chief said a typical shift with eight firefighters recently left the primary ambulance available for less than three hours in a 16‑hour sample period, noting that 30% of medical transports require three personnel and that mutual aid was used multiple times. "That ambulance was available less than three hours in that 16‑hour period," the chief said, describing how additional staffing would reduce the need to take ladder trucks out of service to run ambulances.

Town officials outlined a financing plan: grant money provides an initial three‑year jump start and the town intends to sustain positions thereafter using ambulance-receipt revenue and other departmental funds. Finance staff confirmed the ambulance fund has grown and is projected to help cover operating costs after the grant ends; board members raised questions about billing, resident exposure and long‑term sustainability during the discussion.

The board moved and approved acceptance of the SAFER staffing award (recorded voice vote with at least one member verbally opposing) and later accepted the FEMA assistance grant for the exhaust collection system; the FEMA vote passed by voice vote with no recorded dissent in the transcript. Officials said the exhaust grant includes a small local match and that procurement will proceed once funds are received.