Yesterday, U.S. Senator Mark Udall announced that 13 fire departments across Colorado have won grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Assistance to Firefighters Grant program. The grants, which vary in amount, allow firefighting and emergency medical service agencies to keep up with new technology and obtain critically needed equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training and other resources to keep their communities safe from fire and related hazards.
Colorado has been awarded over $4 million so far.
"Firefighters and first responders are on the front lines every day to keep our urban, suburban and rural communities safe. It's critical that we ensure our public-safety officers have equipment that works properly," Udall said. "This funding will help give the firefighting agencies resources that are up to the task of protecting them while they save lives and protect property."
 The Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is an important component of the larger, coordinated effort to strengthen the nation’s overall level of preparedness and ability to respond to fire and related hazards. Since 2001, the AFG has provided approximately $5 billion in grants to first-responder organizations to obtain much-needed emergency response equipment, personal protective equipment, firefighting andemergency vehicles, and training.
In Fiscal Year 2011, DHS Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program awarded approximately $380 million directly to fire departments and EMS organizations to enhance their response capabilities and to more effectively protect the health and safety of the public and emergency response personnel with respect to fire and all other hazards.
The AFG funds fire departments and non-affiliated EMS organizations. All organizations were eligible to submit up to three applications. Eligible apparatus included, but were not limited to: pumpers, aerials, quints, brush trucks,tankers/tenders, rescue vehicles, ambulances, foam units, and fireboats. Rural fire departments were eligible to apply for multiple vehicles.
Regional projects in which multiple organizations (Fire and/or EMS) serving more than one local jurisdiction would benefit directly from the activities requested with grant funds. Interested applicants were allowed to submit up to three separate applications for consideration, one under each of the three program areas for the FY 2011 AFG.
AFG funding priorities differ for fire departments and nonaffiliated EMS organizations. The funding priorities and evaluation criteria were developed from recommendations provided by a criteria development panel composed of fire service professionals representing nine major fire service organizations, and feedback from non-fire-service organizations representing state and city governments. |