Mentor Fire Department Receives Grant For Radios

The Mentor Fire Department kicked off 2012 with some good news.

Acting Mentor Fire Chief Robert Searles received a call Wednesday from both Ohio senators.

Sen. Rob Portman and Sen. informed him that the department had received $119,600 from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters program.

The money will be used to buy the department 50 portable radios.

The upgraded radios are needed to communicate on Lake County's new, $12-million, 800-MHz radio system.

"The new radios allow for full interoperability with adjacent communities and the statewide MARCS radio network and are crucial to our ability to provide basic services to our residents here in Mentor," Searles said in a statement from the city of Mentor.

"We want to thank our Senators for their assistance in helping Mentor secure this grant and the Department of Homeland Security for everything that they do to make our communities safer."

"Our first responders put their lives on the line every day across Ohio," Brown added. "These funds will help ensure that firefighters in Lake County have the resources they need to perform their jobs safely."

The Assistance to Firefighters program is designed to help fire and paramedic departments that are not directly tied to a hospital.