Bellmawr Fire Department Awarded $150,000 FEMA Firefighters Grant
Bellmawr NJ –Today, (February 29th) the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) awarded a $ 150,000.00 Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) to the Bellmawr Fire Department.
The SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) Grant was created to provide funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations in order to help them increase the number of trained, "front-line" firefighters available in their communities said Chief Jim Burleigh of the Bellmawr Fire Department.
The goal of SAFER is to enhance the local fire departments' abilities to comply with staffing, response and operational standards established by NFPA and OSHA (NFPA 1710 and/or NFPA 1720 and OSHA 1910.134 –. Specifically, SAFER funds should assist local fire departments to increase their staffing and deployment capabilities in order to respond to emergencies whenever they may occur.
As a result of the enhanced staffing, response times should be sufficiently reduced with an appropriate number of personnel assembled at the incident scene.
Also, the enhanced staffing should provide that all front-line/first-due apparatus of SAFER grantees have a minimum of four trained personnel to meet the OSHA standards referenced above.
Ultimately, a faster, safer and more efficient incident scene will be established and communities will have more adequate protection from fire and fire-related hazards.
"The Assistance to Firefighters Grants program has been instrumental in building capacity and providing needed resources for our nation's firefighters," said FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison. "From the purchase of equipment to first responder training, the AFG program has helped improve response capabilities and saved lives and property in communities throughout the United States."
Since 2004, AFG has provided almost $3.1 billion in grants to fire departments and first responder organizations to purchase response equipment, personal protective equipment, vehicles and fire prevention activities.
AFG is administered cooperatively by two FEMA components: the National Preparedness Directorate and the United States Fire Administration.
The full list of FY 2007 AFG recipients and other information is posted on the AFG website (www.firegrantsupport.com).
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