The project, with an annual budget the department hopes to increase to $1.5 million from the current $400,000, does not involve expanded data collection.

But the department hopes to open up far more than that.

Two more classes of 300 each will also be trained because the department hopes to have 900 new firefighters within a year.

She said the department hoped to conduct 300 more random tests in November.

The department hoped to eventually include factors like the use of forests and changes in air quality.

The department hopes to start construction by December 1996.

The department hopes to recover more than $15 million, he said.

In fact, the department was hoping to shift the agenda by pressing ahead with a news conference today on new schools.

The department hopes to change that and, perhaps, burnish its image along the way.

The department also hopes to set up new monthly training sessions for local volunteers.