Several local fire departments have recently been awarded a total of about $383,000 through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program, and these funds will go towards ensuring the groups are up-to-date on equipment.
The DeWitt Fire District will receive $37,500 for personal protective equipment, the Village of Fayetteville Fire Department received $25,000 for personal protective equipment and the East Syracuse Fire Department Inc. will receive $320,572 for protective equipment, including replacing and upgrading their air tanks and associated equipment for self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) gear.
According to the FEMA website, the purpose of the AFG is to meet the firefighting and emergency response needs of fire departments and nonaffiliated emergency medical service organizations. Since 2001, AFG has provided about $6.1 billion to help firefighters and other first responders to obtain critically needed equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training and other resources needed to protect the public and emergency personnel from fire and related hazards.
“Firefighter grants from the AFG Program are highly sought after and therefore very competitive,” said DeWitt Fire District Chief Jason Green. “So we are very pleased to receive these federal funds to help us purchase much-needed firefighting equipment for our personnel. We are grateful to Senator Schumer for his endless support of this program since its inception and also for the more recent support of Senator Gillibrand and Congressman Katko.”
The grant will help offset the rising cost of necessary equipment replacement, Green said, because personal protective equipment is considered out of safety standards after 10 years, but often needs to be replaced earlier due to heavy use.
Fayetteville Fire Chief Paul Hildreth said his department writes about three grants a year, and has received funds from the AFG in the past.
“It’s one way that will allow us to use our limited budget money for other things,” said Hildreth. “We need to be able to catch up with the standards of new gear and replacing gear and with the tax cap being two percent or lower, we’re often limited.”
SCBA gear is another aspect to emergency response that is important, but keeping up-to-date can be costly, said East Syracuse Fire Department Chief David Brewster.
“This money will assist the East Syracuse Volunteer Fire Department in outfitting its members with the latest technology in SCBA. Having new SCBA’s will allow our firefighters to perform their difficult job safer and more proficiently. We thank Senator Schumer and his office for helping us secure these funds,” said Brewster.
To learn more about the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program, go to, fema.gov/assistance-firefighters-grant.
