Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company and Morning Pride, a firefighting equipment manufacturer, announced will provide turnout gear to local fire departments through a new grant program.

As part of the arrangement, Morning Pride will offer special pricing to Fireman’s Fund for turnout gear it purchases through its Fireman’s Fund Heritage program. This is the insurance company’s national philanthropic initiative to provide equipment, training and community education programs to local fire departments. Since 2004, Fireman’s Fund has awarded more than $17 million in grants to over 900 different departments.

“This will allow Fireman’s Fund to nearly double the number of new sets of turnout gear we give fire departments,” said Danielle Cagan, Heritage program director. “Unfortunately, there are firefighters out there who do not have effective clothing to protect them and we're working to change that.”

According to the U.S. Fire Administration, an estimated 66% of firefighters are wearing turnout gear that is at least 10 years old and in dire need of replacement. Even worse, roughly 8% of departments do not even have enough clothing to equip all firefighters.

“This partnership enables us to satisfy our most basic objective – saving lives,” said Mary Grilliot, chief operating officer of Morning Pride. “A firefighter's safety depends upon the protective ability of his or her turnout gear, and we’re proud that this agreement will get more state-of-the-art clothing on the backs of more firefighters all across the country.”

Fire departments interested in learning more about the Fireman’s Fund Heritage grant program can visit www.firemansfund.com/heritage.