FEINGOLD ANNOUNCES ASSISTANCE TO FIREFIGHTERS GRANT FOR WATERTOWN FIRE DEPARTMENT January 31, 2008 U.S. Senator Russ Feingold announced today that the Watertown Fire Department received a 2007 Assistance to Firefighters Grant of $33,862. In June 2007, Senator Feingold sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP) to support the department’s application for an Assistance to Firefighter Grant. This grant is provided by the United States Fire Administration (USFA), which is part of the ODP, to support training, wellness and fitness, firefighting equipment, personal protective equipment and modifications to fire stations and facilities. “This grant program has been an unqualified success in getting much-needed resources directly to local firefighters, and I am pleased that I was able to assist the department in securing this grant,” Feingold said. “I have been and continue to be a strong supporter of this program, in no small measure because of the advocacy of Wisconsin firefighters. The members of both volunteer and career fire departments put their lives on the line on a daily basis for others and at virtually every meeting I have with Wisconsin firefighters, they tell me about the vital importance of these grants and how these grants allow them to get needed equipment and training they would otherwise be unable to afford. ” Wisconsin communities have sent 746 applications to USFA, requesting a total amount of more than $103 million.ODP serves the American public and the nation’s fire services through training, data collection and analysis, public fire education, and fire protection technology research. This grant program is designed as an opportunity for the U.S. Congress to work with ODP to support firefighting departments across the country.

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