Area AFG and SAFER grants
* 2011 grants still being awarded
Note: Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Firefighters (SAFER). ... Area includes Butler, Champaign, Clark, Greene, Miami, Montgomery and Warren counties
Local fire departments have come to depend on federal grants created after the 9 /11 terrorist attacks to help buy millions of dollars in equipment and hire firefighters, but chiefs said the process could become more competitive after a decrease in program funding.
The Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Firefighters (SAFER) programs have funneled more than $15 million into area departments in the past four years for equipment, training and manpower. Earlier this month, Congress approved $675 million for the programs next year, a 16.6 percent drop from a peak of $810 million in 2011.
The grants, created in 2001, were the first significant federal grant options for local fire departments and have funded replacements for aging equipment as well as paid salaries for firefighters and EMTs, area and state officials said.
An analysis of AFG and SAFER data showed area departments received 79 grants totaling $15.8 million for program years 2008, 2009, 2010 and so far in 2011, which is ongoing. Departments have used those funds for communications equipment and new vehicles, as well as adding staff or returning laid-off firefighters to work.
To qualify, departments need to specify old and unusable equipment or demonstrate that staffing is far below industry standards. Officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which administers the grants, then visit departments to follow up on grant usage.
Grants funding dropped from a high of $810 million in 2010 and 2011 to $675 million in 2012. Congress approved an identical $675 million for 2013, split evenly between the AFG and SAFER programs.
FEMA did not respond to several requests to make an official available for comment.
“Everybody else is receiving cuts down to nothing or having big parts taken away, so to get the same (from Congress), I’m OK with that,” said Mike Warner, president of the Ohio Fire Chiefs’ Association and chief of the Concord Twp. Fire Department in northeast Ohio. “Before 2001, we had nothing.”
Funding grants
Fire departments began calling for increased financial support in the 1990s in the face of falling budgets. With greater attention given to fire departments after Sept. 11, 2001, Congress approved $100 million in funding to create the AFG program in 2001.
In 2005, the SAFER program was founded with an initial funding of $65 million. By 2010, the combined financing for the two programs was $810 million.
The Ohio Fire Chiefs’ Association and FEMA have offered sessions on grant writing to help departments access the money. The most important part of applying for the grants is showing that the money is needed, officials said.
“These are needs, not a wish list,” said Joseph Schutte, chief of the Hamilton Fire Department.
Hamilton received AFG grants in 2009 and 2011 and a SAFER grant worth $1.12 million in 2011 that funded seven firefighters for two years.
The Clearcreek Twp. Fire Department received the area’s largest grant of the past three-plus years with a SAFER award of $1.78 million in March 2011 that funded 13 firefighters. The department struggled to maintain an adequate part-time program, so it applied for the staffing grants, said Chief Bob Kidd.
“Everything we get is geared toward helping firefighters, which is a huge benefit to the community,” Kidd said. “Instead of relying on our neighbors, we can find some funds somewhere else.”
Filling needs
In the past three years, 41 area departments have received grants from the AFG or SAFER programs, ranging from $2.22 million (Clearcreek Twp.) to $4,275 (New Jasper Twp. Fire Department).
The Dayton Fire Department detailed the possible operating difficulties of its radios while earning $996,500 for a new communications system.
Municipalities must commit some funds while receiving grants, between 5 percent and 20 percent of the cost, depending on the area’s size. The Dayton communications system cost $1.24 million, according to FEMA.
“Without that AFG grant, the City of Dayton would have been robbing Peter to pay Paul to purchase a radio system,” said Herbert Redden, the Dayton fire chief.
For some, receiving grants is more complicated. In May, FEMA announced that the Middletown Fire Department would receive a $986,259 SAFER grant in part to bring back firefighters who had been laid off. The community will vote on a public safety levy in August, which will affect whether the department can accept the grant, said Middletown fire Chief Steve Botts.
If the levy passes, Middletown will accept the grant. If not, it will have to decline based on hiring practices, Botts said. Many circumstances can surround grants, but their value makes the preparations and work worth the effort, officials said.
“We’ll know Aug. 7 before we go to bed,” Botts said of whether Middletown will be able to accept the grant. “We have to be ready to go, because these grants require us to act fast.”
About the Author