REP. BROWN-WAITE ANNOUNCES MORE THAN $75,000 IN FEDERAL FUNDS FOR PASCO COUNTY FIRE RESCUE
Washington, D.C.,
Sep 27 -
Representative Ginny Brown-Waite (FL-05), today announced that the Pasco County Fire Rescue of
Land O’Lakes has been awarded federal funding as part of a national grant
program to help the nation’s fire service community (round 2).
Pasco County Fire Rescue has been awarded $75,640
in federal funds under the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to
Firefighters Grants (AFG) program.This
is round 2 of the AFG Program - Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency
Response (SAFER) announcements. These
awards are administered by the Department's Office of Grants and Training in
cooperation with the U.S. Fire Administration.
“These federal funds will help
ensure that our fire stations are fully staffed and ready to respond at a
moments notice,” said Rep. Brown-Waite.“PascoCounty officials will now have the resources
available to find and recruit the next generation of firefighters.Local firefighters like those in Land O’Lakes
perform the ultimate public service, and I am delighted that the U.S.
Department Homeland Security has selected the Pasco County Fire Rescue to
receive this vital recruitment grant.”
SAFER grants enhance the
ability of grantees to attain and maintain 24-hour staffing and to assure that
their communities have adequate protection from fire and fire-related
hazards.The Recruitment and Retention
of Volunteer Firefighters grant will help increase the number of trained,
certified, and competent firefighters capable of safely responding to
emergencies likely to occur within the fire department’s geographic response
area.The primary focus of this activity
is to enlist and/or retain volunteer firefighters who are trained in the
operations of firefighting and emergency response.
The SAFER program provides
approximately $103,000,000 in competitive grants to fire departments and statewide
or local firefighter interest groups.No
less than ten percent (10%) of the funding must be awarded for Recruitment and
Retention activities and no less than ten percent (10%) must be awarded to
volunteer and/or mostly volunteer fire departments for Hiring of Firefighters.For more information about the AFG Program,
please visit their website at http://www.firegrantsupport.com/.