The Municipality of Lakeshore and Town of Essex are the latest in the region to receive grant funding from the province to help their fire departments purchase some new equipment.
The money comes from Ontario's Fire Protection Grant.
Essex MPP Anthony Leardi said the grants support efforts to protect firefighters and modernize local fire services.
"Lakeshore received of a grant of $82,000 and they're going to be purchasing a gear drying cabinet, and some more bunker gear to protect their firefighters from dangerous chemicals," he said.
He said Essex's grant totaled $48,444.
"And they're going to be purchasing a Circul-Air Roto-Decon Washer and some protection for their fire crews, that's important to have that air filtration system for decontamination," said Leardi.
Leardi said the province accepted applications from municipalities until this past September with up to $40 million available across Ontario.Â
He added firefighters need protection against cancer causing chemicals released during fires.
"And they need the protection when they go back to the fire station to get these chemicals off their gear and back into safety. So what they have to do is they have to have special washers and special dryers for the gear to make that the chemicals are removed so that the gear can be used again without contaminating the person who is wearing the gear," he said.
Earlier this week, Amherstburg was awarded $52,821 to purchase new bunker gear, helmets, boots, gloves, protective hoods, and gear washer.
Kingsville received $36,224 for the purchase of four AirMATION™ Industrial Air Cleaner units, complete with an activation system and optical sensors. The units are designed to remove contaminants from fire halls, helping reduce occupational exposure risks for firefighters.
-With files from AM800's Rusty Thomson