Dracut Fire Department Receives $17,566 Grant to Begin Purchasing PFAS-Free Turnout Gear for Firefighters

DRACUT — The Dracut Fire Department will soon begin making a major improvement in firefighter safety thanks to a $17,566 state grant that will fund the first purchases of PFAS-free turnout gear. 

The Dracut Fire Department was awarded the grant via the Massachusetts Firefighter Safety Equipment Grant Program, which is administered by the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS) and the Department of Fire Services (DFS). 

The grant received by Dracut was among $5 million in grants provided to fire departments across the Commonwealth to improve firefighter safety. 

In recent years, the National Fire Protection Association has warned that firefighters are at increased risk of cancer due to the presence of PFAS — also known as forever chemicals — in their turnout gear. Significant amounts of research have gone into creating firefighter gear that still adequately protects firefighters without using PFAS, and such gear is now available. 

The state grant funding will enable the Dracut Fire Department to purchase four new, complete sets of firefighter turnout gear that are PFAS-free. 

Receipt of the grant funding is the first step in an aggressive plan being implemented by Chief Michael Cunha to get one set of PFAS-free turnout gear for each of the department’s firefighters within five years. The chief’s plan will seek grant funding to be coupled with funding from the department’s budget to purchase up to nine new sets of gear per year. 

The department has also asked the Town of Dracut for funds from the Capital Plan to support the effort to purchase PFAS-free turnout gear, and Town Meeting will consider that request in June. 

“We are extremely grateful for this grant, which enables us to begin the process of providing PFAS-free turnout gear to all of our firefighters,” said Chief Michael Cunha. “We have an obligation as a community to take care of the firefighters who take care of us, and this new gear is a major step toward doing so more fully.”

For more information on the 2026 Massachusetts Firefighter Safety Equipment Grant Program, click here.