Money from the federal government continues to roll in for the Oxford Fire Department.

The department was recently awarded a $154,090 grant from the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Oxford will add $15,409 to purchase two new exhaust removal systems to replace the existing ones at both of its stations.

While inside the station, each fire vehicle has a special hose attached to its exhaust pipe so that whenever the engine is running, the carbon monoxide and carcinogens expelled are sent into the removal system instead of the air, according to Fire Chief Pete Scholz.

Scholz said the current systems are getting too old to do the job.

“Parts were wearing out, sensors weren’t working anymore, fan motors are wearing out,” he said.

The system at Station #2 has been in use since 2001, while the equipment at Station #1 has been operating since 2002.

Fire Capt. Ron Jahlas, who’s currently on medical leave, wrote the successful grant proposal. It’s one of many for him.

In 2017, Jahlas obtained a $333,706 FEMA grant to fund a full-time recruitment/retention officer for a four-year period. This officer’s main job is to increase department staffing levels by recruiting new paid-on-call firefighters.

Four years before, Jahlas secured $173,024 in FEMA grant money to purchase 28 new self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) units for firefighters.

In 2010, Jahlas brought home a $177,650 FEMA grant to purchase 28 new airpacks and a compressed air filling station.

Scholz said these grants are very helpful when it comes time for the department to purchase “large-ticket items” that cost six figures.

“It’s hard to accumulate that kind of money (through the normal budgeting process),” he said.