By Karen Vance
Enquirer contributor

MIAMI TOWNSHIP - About 50 percent of all firefighter deaths are the result of a heart attack. But one Tristate fire department is looking to spend nearly $45,000 in federal grant money in an effort to reverse that trend.

The Miami Township Fire Department in Clermont County plans to use the grant money to create a physical fitness and wellness program for its firefighters. The department will provide 10 percent in matching funds.

"The program will help us promote a healthy lifestyle for our firefighters," said Fire and EMS Chief Jim Whitworth. "A lot of people don't realize, we spend 90 percent of our jobs doing things other than fighting fires - fire inspections, public education, training, maintaining equipment and vehicles. Then suddenly you need to be at full speed, and that sudden jump in physical exertion can be a real problem."

The grant money will be used to purchase updated fitness equipment for the department's 44 career firefighters, 30 part-time firefighters and 15 volunteers. The department will also train members to become fitness coordinators for other firefighters and temporarily employ a fitness instructor to develop individualized programs for firefighters, Chief Whitworth said.

The wellness program, which also includes some physical testing and vaccines, is under way, partially funded by the department's $5 million budget, but the grant will allow the firefighters to expand it without biting into their capital improvements program, he said.

FEMA awarded $42 million in all in the 11th round of funding for the FIRE Act, including providing grants ranging from $16,200 to $152,928 to eight other Tristate fire departments. The FIRE Act began in 2001, distributing $100 million to local fire departments to assist in their efforts, and this year FEMA will award a total of $360 million.

For departments like the Georgetown Volunteer Fire Department in Brown County, the FIRE Act grant helps provide equipment firefighters wouldn't otherwise have, said Chief Joe Brookbank.

The department's $65,664 grant will pay for self-contained breathing apparatus, additional oxygen tanks, more radios and a thermal imaging camera. The 22-volunteer fire-only department, which covers a 53-square mile area in the village of Georgetown, Pleasant Township and parts of Scott and Franklin townships, has a yearly budget between $100,000 and $200,000.

"It's really great, a tremendous help," Chief Brookbank said. "Typically, we just barely meet expenses and try to get along."

The Arlington Heights Fire Department will receive $63,000 to buy 13 air packs and a thermal imaging camera, Fire Chief Joe Gehring said.

The department, which covers 1 square mile, has 27 firefighters, and a budget of only $84,000. Without the grant, the department would only be able to lease six air packs and no thermal imaging camera. He said the grant is vital to departments his size.