Slaughter Announces $116,447 DHS Grant for Niagara's Lewiston #2 Fire Company

Funding Will Improve Station's Operations and Safety

Washington, DC - Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-Fairport), Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee, is pleased to announce that Niagara's Lewiston #2 Fire Company has been awarded a $116, 447 grant from the Department of Homeland Security's Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, the first such grant they have received. The funding will support operations and safety at Lewiston, including training, protective and general equipment procurement, firefighter wellness and fitness, and improvements to fire stations and facilities.

"This funding is about protecting our bravest citizens so that they can better protect us," Rep. Slaughter said. "We should be behind our firefighters completely, and getting them grants like these is one critically important way to do it."

"This is Lewiston's first DHS grant, and we'll work hard to make sure it's the first of many," she added.

The Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFGP) awards one-year grants directly to fire departments to support the nation's firefighters and the services they deliver. For the 2005 program, Congress appropriated, and President Bush signed into law, $650 million in direct assistance to firefighters to improve the effectiveness of firefighting operations, firefighter health and safety programs, and to establish or expand fire prevention programs throughout the United States. The Department of Homeland Security's Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness (SLGCP) administers the program, in cooperation with the U.S. Fire Administration.