LANGHORNE, PA – Today, March 24th, 2023, Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01) announced the Falls Township Fire Company #1 and the Levittown Fire Company 2 have received grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to assist with recruitment, retention, and purchasing of the necessary tools to respond to emergency calls.
The Falls Township Fire Company #1 was awarded $200,000 and the Levittown Fire Company 2 was awarded $261,200 through the 2021 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program. The mission of the SAFER grant program is to enhance the ability of recipients to attain and maintain 24-hour fire department staffing and to better assure that their communities have adequate protection from fire and fire-related hazards. This year, FEMA will be awarding $560 million to an estimated 500 eligible fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations throughout our nation.
“I am proud to be an advocate for two municipalities that will benefit from the SAFER Grant. Over the last 50 years our Commonwealth has seen a steep decline in volunteer levels across the spectrum, which also directly impacted the budgets of our local fire departments.” said Congressman Fitzpatrick. “This grant is critical in supporting our local fire departments and ensuring our communities have adequate levels of firefighters ready to respond in a moment’s notice.”
The statute, 15 U.S.C. § 2229a, authorizes the SAFER Program to make competitive grants to fire departments and national, state, local, federally recognized tribal, and non-profit interest organizations representing the interests of volunteer firefighters. No less than 10 percent of the funding must be awarded to projects under the Recruitment and Retention (R&R) Activity, and 10 percent of the funding is set aside for awards to volunteer or mostly volunteer fire departments under the Hiring of Firefighters (Hiring) Activity.
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