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Bill to Help Firefighters Addresses Improvements to Grant Program Such As Need to Include all EMS Departments
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Saturday, October 09, 2004
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Steny Hoyer today announced that legislation to reauthorize the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program was included in the Defense Authorization Conference Report which passed in the House of Representatives today. As a co-chair of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus, Rep. Hoyer has been very active in helping establish and fund the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, which helps local fire departments buy equipment and provide adequate training.
Authorization for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program expired on Oct. 1. Congressman Hoyer led members of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus in introducing legislation (H.R. 4107) earlier this year to reauthorize the popular program for an additional five years.
“As a co-chair of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus, I have worked with my fellow co-chairs and with the fire service during the past several months to craft this important legislation which not only reauthorizes, but also makes significant improvements to the enormously successful Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program,” said Hoyer. “We ask far too many of our first responders to risk their lives in our defense every day with insufficient training and inadequate equipment, and we have an obligation to provide them with the necessary resources to perform their jobs as safely and effectively as possible,” added Hoyer.
The legislation, introduced by Congressman Hoyer and members of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus, reauthorizes the Fire Grant program at $1 billion annually, mandates that the program is administered by the US Fire Administration, increases the size of the grant awards, reduces the matching requirement for all departments, adds firefighter safety research and development to the firefighter prevention section which would benefit organizations such as the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute, and expands eligibility to include volunteer EMS squads which would benefit the many EMS squads in Maryland that are struggling to secure the resources they need to do their job.
Earlier this year, Congressman Hoyer met with Firefighters, EMS Personnel and leaders in the Maryland Fire Community to discuss the reauthorization bill. At the event, Bertie Spalding, Chief of the Ironsides Volunteer Rescue Squad, expressed how difficult it is for their squad to purchase the equipment they need.
In addition to the Ironsides Volunteer Rescue Squad, rescue squads in the 5th Congressional District that would benefit from the expanded eligibility include the Charles County Rescue Squad in LaPlata, the Seventh District Rescue Squad, the Mechanicsville Rescue Squad, the Second District Rescue Squad and the Laurel Rescue Squad, which are just a few rescue squads in Maryland not affiliated with a local fire department.
“There are as many as 3,000 communities across the country, primarily small towns, many in rural areas, that maintain EMS and rescue squads that are separate and distinct from the local fire department. These EMS departments perform vital rescue and life saving missions that are not carried out by the local fire departments.
“But they were previously ineligible for much-needed assistance for no other reason than the manner in which the community has organized its firefighting and emergency response departments,” added Hoyer. “The legislation included in the Conference Report today expands eligibility to include these separate EMS squads, thereby resolving one of the few shortcomings in the Fire Grant program.”
The Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program has provided vital resources to fire departments which often have difficulty purchasing proper equipment. A ladder truck for a local fire department can run upwards of $750,000 and outfitting one firefighter with turnout gear and breathing apparatus can approach $4,500. In addition, departments must fund training programs for paid and/or volunteer firefighters.
Since its establishment in 2001, the grant funding has been used for turnout gear; breathing apparatus; communications equipment; wellness and fitness programs; computer and technology improvements for record keeping and training purposes; training in fire-fighting, emergency response and arson prevention; improving the enforcement of fire codes; and modifying fire stations and fire training facilities to protect the health and safety of the firefighter personnel.
Since 2001, Maryland has received nearly $20 million in grant funding from the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. Fire departments that have received grants in Maryland’s Fifth District include La Plata, Hughesville, Mechanicsville, Solomons, Laurel, Prince George’s County, Seventh District, Leonardtown, College Park, Cobb Island, Second District, Brandywine, Greenbelt and Benedict.
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