WASHINGTON – The Village of Fishkill Fire Department has received a $77,425 federal grant, allowing the department to upgrade its communications equipment with the purchase of digital portable radios.

The department’s radios are currently aging and unreliable, potentially placing the people they assist in jeopardy, said Congressman John Hall, who made the grant announcement.

The grant was awarded by the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program through FEMA.

The only way the fire department could have upgraded its equipment was through “a major tax increase or an alternative source of funding,” Hall said.