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WASHINGTON – Connecticut Senators Chris Dodd and Joe Lieberman announced the awarding of three fire assistance grants for Connecticut today.
Fire departments in Enfield, Middlebury, and New Hartford were awarded grants as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Award program. Enfield received $315,108, Middlebury $297,457 and New Hartford $129,760 in grants for operations and safety programs.
“The best way to protect people from the devastating effects of fire is to prevent them from occurring in the first place,” said Dodd. “This assistance will help keep students, faculty, and firefighters in Connecticut safer. We need to do everything we can to ensure fire prevention and safety assistance reaches all those who need it.”
“These grants will go a long way toward helping our firefighters get the resources they need to adequately protect our communities and to educate the public on important safety measures,” Lieberman said.
Senators Dodd and Lieberman have been longtime advocates for fire safety. In 2003, Dodd authored and Lieberman cosponsored the SAFER Act, a law that gives local fire departments the ability to reduce critical shortfalls in professional and volunteer personnel. Since the SAFER Act and its companion grant initiative, the FIRE Act, were enacted, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), now part of DHS, has distributed 346 grants for a total of more than $35 million in Connecticut to help fire departments strengthen their response capabilities.
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