The Bradford fire station won a reprieve from an anticipated Jan. 1 closure on Monday when Haverhill received more than $260,000 in fire staffing grants.
Mayor James Fiorentini said the money will allow him to hire three firefighters — enough to safely keep the Bradford station open for a few months and maybe until June 30, the ed of the current fiscal year.
Haverhill also received $63,786 for police staffing.
Both grants come via the state Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, using money provided by the federal stimulus packaage. The announcement of Haverhill's award was made jointly by state Sen. Steven Baddour and state Reps. Brian Dempsey, Barbara L'Italien and Harriett Stanley.
Fiorentini said the city immediately will begin a hiring process to add to the fire and police ranks. While some state grants for public safety require cities and towns to provide matching funds, no city money is required as a match for these grants.
"This is great news for the city and for our hardworking police and fire departments," Fiorentini said.
"Our success in obtaining these funds is a testament to a team approach we undertook with our state legislative delegation, Fire Chief Borden and police Chief DeNaro — who each applied for the respective grants — along with Local 1011 and the Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts," he said.
Fiorentini had warned that the Bradford station would most likely close by January or February if the city did not receive the staffing grants.
"These funds mean we have more personnel and resources to add immediately to our public safety departments during this difficult recession," he said.
