About 1,000 more fire departments applied for grants this, over last.
Details on the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program applications are
being digested at FEMA headquarters and some of the numbers are in.
According to Marko Bourne, USFA Executive Assistant for Communications,
about 19,500 requests were submitted on the April 5 deadline.
Last year, over 31,000 requests were received but since each department
could submit up to two requests, and 60 percent of the departments did, this
year's number represents more departments then last year.
And the total amount requested this year, about $2.2 billion, is less then
last year's approximately $3.2 billion. A lot of that money last year was
targeted at vehicles in the department's second grant request, Bourne said.
Bourne gave these preliminary numbers for department breakdown:
- Volunteer/Combo Departments, 17,786 requesting $1.9 billion.
- Career Departments, 1733 requesting $287 million.
The average request increased in value, Bourne said. But since each
department could only apply in one of four program areas, the total amount
requested was lower this year.
The four program areas and amounts requested were listed.
- Fire Operations and Firefighter Safety: $882 million, 58% of
applications.
- Vehicles: $1.26 billion, 37% of applications.
- Emergency Medical Services: $35 million, 2% of applications.
- Fire Prevention Programs: $30.5 million, 3% of applications.
Bourne said they had about 26,000 registered users, but about 6,000 were
people who only filled out the registration page or less then 20 percent of
the application. In many cases more then one person from a department began
the application, perhaps to run a test or just to see if they could do it,
Bourne said. These 6000 were never submitted.
The final number of paper applications submitted was 50, over which Bourne
was esthetic. "Given we had some hiccups with the online system were pretty
happy and we got those hiccups straightened out. And next year should be
even smoother," he said.
Monday, USFA -- http://www.usfa.fema.gov/ -- will post additional statistical breakdown.
