By Jason Klaiber
Staff Writer
The DeWitt Fire District will be the recipient of $360,000 through a pair of federal grant-awarding programs.
The fire district will receive $24,000 through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program and $336,000 through the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants (SAFER) program.
“Honestly we’re very appreciative and thankful for the opportunity to even apply for either one of them and to get both is quite a surprise,” Jason Green, the district’s fire chief, said.
Green had been notified and congratulated on receiving the grants over the phone this month by the offices of New York Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.
The fire district applied for the grants through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) website.
According to Green, these grant applications go through a multi-stage review process, which includes the cover-to-cover reading of the applications by firefighters and fire chiefs gathered at the National Fire Academy in Maryland to evaluate the pros and cons of each.
“Grants from the AFG and SAFER programs are highly sought after and very competitive,” Green said. “So, we are very pleased to receive these federal funds to help us purchase much needed safety equipment and to support our staffing needs. We are grateful to Senators Schumer and Gillibrand for their endless support of our efforts and the AFG programs.”
The AFG will fund replacements of the DeWitt Fire District’s breathing air compressor and fill station, both of which Green said had gotten “old.”
The AFG will help offset the cost of safety equipment used to fill self-contained breathing air cylinders, which firefighters wear on their backs for respiratory protection in hazardous atmospheres like smoke-filled buildings.
“Making sure that we have the most up-to-date and capable and compliant equipment all figures into safety,” Green said.
Once they exit a hazardous area, the firefighters will breathe in air compressed at 4,500 pounds per square inch from the cylindrical tank.
The SAFER grant will help fund two additional firefighting positions in the district, paying a yet-to-be-disclosed percentage of salary and benefits for each firefighter over the course of the three-year grant performance period.
Green said more details on the grants will be divulged when the next fiscal year starts on Oct. 1.
The purpose of the AFG is to award competitive grants directly to fire departments, allowing them to better protect the health and safety of the public as well as department personnel.
The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants (SAFER) provides funding directly to fire departments to assist them in heightening or maintaining the number of trained, “front line” firefighters available in their respective communities.
SAFER enhances the local fire departments’ abilities to comply with staffing, response and operational standards established by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).
Since 2001, the AFG program has provided approximately $7.1 billion in grants to first-responder organizations, a sum used to obtain safety equipment, personal protective equipment, emergency vehicles, training and personnel nationwide.
The DeWitt Fire District is a combination fire department with both career and volunteer firefighters.
“We feel that we provide an outstanding service to our community,” Green said. “I think our community is very fortunate to have the level of service we offer and are able to enjoy through our mutual aid partners.”
