HEATHER CASPI and LON SLEPICKA
Firehouse.Com News
Fire officials around the country were elated Thursday after the
Federal Emergency Management Agency and the United States Fire
Administration announced the first round of the 2002 Assistance to
Firefighters Grant awards.
The 72 fire departments chosen in this round received a total of $3,868,968.
Fifty-nine of the departments received grants for Fire Operations and
Firefighter Safety, totaling $2,570,151.
Seven departments received awards in the Firefighting Vehicle
category, totaling $1,036,467, and six departments received grants
for Fire Prevention, amounting to $262,350.
FEMA and the USFA will announce about 5,500 grants over the next five
months, until the full $360 million is dispersed.
More than 19,900 fire departments applied for grants this year,
submitting requests totaling approximately $2.98 billion.
"I'm just a little bit overwhelmed right now," said Chief Pat Counts
of the Salem, VA Fire and EMS Department, which received a $111,698
grant for Fire Operations and Firefighter Safety.
Counts said he only found out for sure that his department was
getting a grant when the first round of announcements came out
Thursday afternoon.
"I'm glad we were in the first cycle. That makes it a little more
special," he said.
Counts said he was about to tell his entire department by sending out
a mass page to all members.
His department plans to upgrade their stock of SCBAs so that they
will meet NFPA safety standards. Counts said they are currently using
units from as far back as the 1970s, and plan to replace them with
about 30 new units plus some extra air bottles and face pieces.
Counts said he thought the department had a pretty good chance of
obtaining a grant because they could demonstrate a serious need for
new equipment.
"We're tickled to death," he said. "It'll be good to get everybody up
to standard."
The department has 56 paid firefighters, six paid staff and operates
out of three stations to protect an area of 15 square miles.
The City of St. Augustine Fire Department in Florida also plans to
replace their non-compliant air packs, some of which are 25 years
old. But with their $124,823 grant, they also plan to update their
bunker gear, purchase a thermal imaging camera, and some teaching
aids.
"We certainly need it," said Capt. Mike Arnold. "This is really going
to benefit us."
Arnold said the department was notified about the grant by FEMA about
two weeks ago, and received a call yesterday from the House of
Representatives.
He said they have applied for various grants in the past but this is
the first time it worked. "We made out real well. We're real happy,"
he said.
"In our department, the new guys have been getting new bunker gear
and the older guys who have been here 10 or 20 years are stuck with
the old heavy-weight bunker gear. They would see other departments
with new equipment and say, 'why can't we get something like that?'"
The department, which will soon celebrate it's 100th birthday, is a
career department with 24 full time firefighters, plus the fire
marshal and the fire chief. They operate out of two stations to
protect a residential population of 13,000 and a tourist population
of 40,000.
Acting Battalion Chief Frank Bekker of the Rialto Fire Department in
California still had a hard time believing his department got a
grant, even after seeing the announcement.
He hadn't received any official notification and was surprised when
the department got a call of congratulations Thursday.
"So I looked it up for myself, and hey, there it was. It was pretty
exciting," he said.
The department's $60,382 grant will provide equipment for a new
regional training center. Bekker said training is a major issue in
the area because many of the experienced firefighters have left for
larger departments, leaving the smaller departments with very young
crews.
Bekker said he was especially excited about the grant because he
prepared the department's request. He also tried for the grant last
year, and said he learned that the key is to show your need, and why
you can't get the funds anywhere else.
He also said he enjoyed this year's online application, although he
wished there had been more time between the announcement and the
application due date.
"But in the end we got it so I'm not going to complain too much," he said.
Marko Bourne, USFA Executive Assistant of Communications, said the next
round of announcements will come next week. "Since we got started a little
late we are trying to catch up," he said. After that the announcements
should come every two weeks, "unless we get behind again," Bourne said.
The letter informing those who did not make it to the peer review level and
therefore will not receive a grant this round, will be going out
electronically in the next two weeks. Tom Olshanski, Grant Information
Co-ordinator, USFA, said Administrator David Paulison has personally become
involved in this letter hoping to encourage departments to keep trying for
the grant awards.
There continues to be the group of departments that ride the line of getting
or not receiving an award. Changes continue, Olshanski said, and money may
become available to fund additional grant requests. Some departments will be
waiting for a definitive yes or no for some time he said.
Here is a full list of winners. To view individual success stories of grant recipients, visit our
2002 Success Story page.
