The Boston City Council Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice, chaired by Councillor Henry Santana, held a hearing on March 31, 2026 at 3:02 PM to review all city grants administered by the Boston Fire Department (BFD). The hearing covered 13 active awards totaling over $4 million, including federal and state grants for training, cancer screenings, hazmat response, and wellness programs. Councillors Flynn, Murphy, and Fitzgerald attended, along with Fire Commissioner Paul Burke, Deputy Commissioner Kevin Coyne, Financial Grants Manager Julie Devin, and other BFD division chiefs. No public testimony was offered.
Good afternoon. For the record, my name is Henry Santana, at large city councillor, and I'm the chair of the Boston City Council Committee on public safety and criminal justice. Today is March thirty-first, twenty twenty six. The exact time is three oh two PM. This hearing is being recorded. It is also being live streamed at Boston.gov slash city dash council dash TV and broadcasted on Xfinity Channel 8, RCN Channel 82, and Files Channel 964.ps at Boston.gov and will be made part of the record and available to all counselors. Public testimony will be taken in at the end of this hearing. Individuals will be called on in the order in which they signed up, and we'll have two minutes to testify. If you are interested in testifying in person, please add your name to the sign-up sheet near the entrance of the chamber. If you are looking to testify virtually, please email our central staff liaison Ron Cobb at Ron dot cob at Boston.gov for the link and your name will be added to the list. Today's hearing is on docket number zero four zero zero. Order for a hearing regarding all city of Boston grants administered by the Boston Fire Department. This matter was sponsored by uh myself and was referred to the committee on February twenty-sixth, twenty twenty-six. Today I am joined by my colleagues in order of arrival, District Two City Councillor at Flynn and at large city councilor Aaron Murphy. Um I will give um brief remarks and then I'll introduce our panel um with us here today. So with that, Councillor Flynn, you have the floor. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the um members of the Boston Fire Department for being here. Uh, want to say thank you to you, Chair, for bringing us together as we discuss critical grants that will impact and support the Boston Fire Department, whether it's whether it's upgrade of technology transportation, whether it's for personnel training, whether it's for hazmat material. But um, I'm here to support these dockets, learn more about this information. Also want to focus as we go into the budget season, how are we ensuring that the health and wellness of firefighters and their families is a top priority for all of us in this budget process. So I will stop there and I'm looking forward to hearing from the firefighters that are present. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Flynn, Councilor Murphy. You have the floor. Thank you, Chair. Thank you to the fire department for being here. I have to admit, um, Chair, when you did this last year when we called them in once and we kind of talked through all of the grants and we passed them all. I felt like it may um you know kind of stop our ability to kind of meet with them throughout the year, but I do just want to highlight that everyone in the fire department from the commissioner all the way down is always so responsive. So even though today we're gonna get an overview of all the essential important grants that go through the fire department. I know that this is not our only opportunity to connect, so I just want to say that because I know it's not um like other departments where each time a grant comes up, we kind of call you in. So thank you for doing that. Also just want to highlight how important it is that you know the city wouldn't run. The departments would not run if the grant makers and those in the finance department aren't writing these grants, looking for these grants, and I know we'll hear more about them, but these grants are essential to the safety of our firefighters, to the safety of the public. So just looking forward to supporting all of these but learning more. So thank you for being here. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Councillor Murphy. We've also been joined by Councillor Fitzgerald. Um, Councillor Fitzgerald, if you want to um offer brief opening remarks, you have the floor. Thank you all for being here. Hope to get the money that you need to continue doing the great job you do. Thank you, Chair. There you go. Quick and efficient. Um keeps our residents and our infrastructure safe. There are a team of dedicated professionals whose work goes beyond firefighting. Our firefighters work tirelessly on fire prevention, carbon monoxide safety, excuse me, and emergency medical services.