The fire departments in Hawthorne and West Paterson will receive $334,896 and $113,904, respectively, Rep. Steve Rothman, D-Fair Lawn, announced at the Hawthorne Fire Department on Friday.

"Our firefighters are on the front lines; we need to make sure they have the best equipment to get the job done," he said.

The Hawthorne department will buy 54 self-contained breathing apparatuses, which are backpacks fitted with air tanks that allow firefighters to breathe through a face mask, said Fire Chief Joseph Speranza. In addition, the department will buy 56 extra air tanks, 110 face masks and breathing regulators, and six rapid intervention team packs, which are self-contained breathing apparatuses with bigger air tanks for reviving victims found inside burning structures, he said.

The extra equipment will allow the Hawthorne department to become a rapid intervention team and a firefighter assistance team that can provide assistance to other emergencies in the area, Speranza said.

The West Paterson Volunteer Fire Department will buy 40 self-contained breathing apparatuses, said Fire Chief Joseph Macones.

"It's probably the most-used piece of equipment we have," he said.

The air tanks the West Paterson department now uses are 15 years old and have needed $5,000 worth of repairs in the past two years, Macones said.

Speranza said that the air tanks his fire crews use last 15 to 20 minutes, but the new ones will last 35 to 50 minutes.

Macones said news of the grant gave him a "shot in the arm."

"The real benefit to West Paterson is that this is federal money that will alleviate the tax burden on the community," said City Council President Keith Kazmark.

Hawthorne taxpayers would have to spend "$100,000 a year over the next few years" to replace self contained breathing apparatuses that were no longer useful, said Mayor Fred J. Criscitelli.

The federal funds come from the Firefighter Investment Response Enhancement Act that Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson, initiated and then-President Bill Clinton signed into law in 2000. According to Pascrell, the program hasgiven $25 million to fire departments across New Jersey, including $1.7 million to departments in Passaic County. The fund gave out $750 million in grants nationwide in fiscal 2004, but President Bush's fiscal 2005 budget cut the fund to $500 million. Pascrell wants the fund to grow to $1 billion.

"I can't believe this administration tried to cut this program, which benefits homeland security. Firefighters must have equipment, and we cannot do this on the cheap," Pascrell said Friday.