Boston Council Panel Clears Hazmat Training Funds, North End Firehouse Upgrade Grants

BOSTON -- February 14, 2023, Boston's City Council public safety panel advanced three grant dockets Tuesday covering hazmat training, a North End firehouse renovation, and anti-violence youth programming. The Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice cleared Docket 0325, redirecting a federal hazardous materials grant away from a vehicle that could not be delivered in time toward department-wide lithium battery and decontamination training; Docket 0326, allocating $300,000 for Engine 8, Ladder 1 in the North End to relocate the kitchen from exhaust-laden truck bays to the second floor and fund roof and HVAC work; and Docket 0210, renewing the 17th year of the Shannon Community Safety Initiative, which in 2022 served 1,471 clients through case management and reached more than 1,700 youth in development programming across 19 organizations. The fire commissioner warned the panel that the department's Brighton hazmat command center on Holton Street must vacate by July 31, with roughly 47,000 square feet of operational space unaccounted for. Favorable committee reports were targeted for Wednesday's full City Council hearing.