Kanjorski Announces $42,904 for Lightstreet Community Fire Company in Bloomsburg

WASHINGTON - Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski (PA-11) today announced that the Lightstreet Community Fire Company in Bloomsburg has received a $42,904 grant for personal protective equipment for firefighters and fire police and for upgrades to the company's rescue tools. The money is part of the Firefighter Investment and Response Enhancement (FIRE) grant program of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

"Fire departments find it increasingly difficult to make ends meet as operation costs increase and budgets decrease. Federal grants play a vital role in helping our fire departments purchase the most current equipment. Our firefighters face dangers each day that we cannot even imagine, and we owe it to them to provide the funds to protect them," Congressman Kanjorski said.

Fire Chief Jeffrey Hofe commented on the importance of the FIRE grant program. "It's terribly important. A lot of fire departments would never be able to upgrade their equipment and make it current to protect our firefighters," he said.

For the next round of FIRE grants, the application period began on March 7 and ends on April 8. Information is available for fire departments at http://www.firegrants.com/. More than $7.7 million in federal grants has been awarded to fire companies in the 11^th congressional district since the FIRE grant program began. To date, 76 fire companies in the 11^th congressional district have received FIRE grants.

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