Friday, November 4th 

The Gates Fire District has received a grant of $400,000 from the 2005 Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

http://www.firegrantsupport.com/safer/faq/

What is the purpose of SAFER?
The SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) Grant Program was created to provide funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations to help increase the number of firefighters. The goal is to enhance the ability of fire departments to attain 24-hour staffing and thus assure that their communities have adequate protection from fire and fire-related hazards. SAFER grants will help fire departments meet minimum standards for firefighter staffing. If selected for a SAFER award, grantees will be required to adhere to several terms and conditions of the award.


What kinds of activities are eligible for funding in SAFER?
1. Hiring of Firefighters Activity. The goal of the Hiring of Firefighters Activity is to award grants directly to volunteer, combination, and career fire departments to help them increase the number of frontline firefighters with a goal of ultimately attaining 24-hour staffing, thus assuring the community has adequate protection from fire and fire-related hazards. This activity provides 5-year grants to assist fire departments in paying a portion of the salaries of newly hired firefighters. These newly hired positions must be in addition to authorized and funded active firefighter positions. Grantees are required to match an increasing proportion of the salary awarded over a 4-year period; in the fifth year of the grant, the grantee must absorb the entire cost of any positions awarded as a result of the grant.

The Federal share of salaries and associated benefits is limited to a total of $100,000 per position over the course of the performance period. There is no funding limit for any application or any limit to the number of positions eligible for funding per application. However, applicants requesting large numbers of firefighters must make a strong case for their request.