An $866,000 Community Development Grant will fund renovations to Bridgeport’s 54-year-old firehouse, adding decontamination facilities and safety upgrades to improve response and protect firefighters’ health

By Cole Waterman
mlive.com

BRIDGEPORT TWP, Mich. — The Bridgeport Fire Department has received a six-figure federal grant to update its facilities, improve firefighters’ response times, and protect their health and safety.

U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet on Tuesday, Jan. 27, visited the department at 6204 Dixie Highway to announce she had obtained an $866,000 Community Development Grant to improve the station. McDonald Rivet secured the resources through her fiscal year 2026 Community Project Funding Initiative.

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The grant application was sent to her office in March 2025 by Bridgeport Township Chief Accountant Ron Rachwitz and then-Township Treasurer and past Fire Chief Patrick Nelson.

“We cannot thank her enough for seeing what this means to the community and our firefighters,” Fire Chief David Smigiel stated in a Facebook post.

The funding will help the department move forward with an extensive expansion and remodel of its existing 54-year-old station. It will repair deteriorating apparatus floors and allow for a proper shower/decontamination area for personnel to clean chemicals off themselves upon returning to the station.

The expansion will further create space on a crowded apparatus floor and enable the relocation of critical equipment for the decontamination/shower room project. The funding will also include updating undersized electrical systems, adding a new fire suppression system, and removing the old hose tower, Smigiel wrote.

“With the cooperation of Congresswoman McDonald Rivet’s office, the USDA, and other agencies, we hope to see construction begin later this year,” Smigiel wrote.

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