A Nesquehoning fire department has been awarded over $230,000 in federal funds to purchase a new firefighting vehicle.

U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright announced that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has awarded the Nesquehoning Hose Company No. 1 with an Assistance to Firefighters Grant in the amount of $237,500, which will be used to purchase an Urban Interface Vehicle.The vehicle is a combination brush truck/pumper and will carry brush fighting equipment as well as structural firefighting equipment.The Good Will Hose Company No. 1 in Frackville will also receive a $20,000 grant to purchase a compressor fill station for air tanks."For over a century, both the Good Will Hose Company No. 1 and Nesquehoning Hose Company No. 1 have served the local community and provided invaluable services to local citizens," said Cartwright, a member of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus. "I thank both fire departments and their brave first responders for their dedication and commend them both on their well-deserved grants."John McArdle, Nesquehoning Hose Company fire chief, was happy to hear the news."We owe a great deal to the success of our grant to Jason Faryniak (who wrote the grant) from FireMed Grant Solutions," McArdle said, noting that this was "a wise investment" for the borough of Nesquehoning.He explained that this grant is the second for the company in recent years. The other grant, secured in 2012, was for $617,500, which was used to purchase a 103-foot Quint vehicle.McArdle added that the company now has 360 days to complete the project, which includes preparing bid specs, reviewing the bids, awarding the contract, preconstruction, construction and acceptance and delivery.The new vehicle will replace two unsafe brush trucks a 1968 Kaiser Jeep brush truck and a 1975 AMC brush tanker that were not originally designed for fire service. Those vehicles will then be returned to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.The purpose of the AFG is to award competitive grants directly to fire departments to enhance their ability to protect the health and safety of the public, as well as that of first-responder personnel.Since 2001, AFG has provided approximately $5.6 billion in grants to first responder organizations to obtain much-needed emergency response equipment, personal protective equipment, firefighting and emergency vehicles and training.