Assistance To Firefighters Grant Awards Announced To Aid America's Firefighters 

California Receives More Than $1.9 Million in Latest Round of Grants

Release Date: October 6, 2003
Release Number: R9-03-89

» 2003 Region IX News Releases

Oakland, CA - Michael D. Brown, under secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response, announced 489 grants to fire departments throughout the United States in the seventeenth round of the 2003 Assistance to Firefighters Grant program. The grants will ultimately total approximately 7,000 awards worth $750 million in direct assistance to firefighters. Included in the announcement of this latest round were awards for 13 communities in California: Santa Barbara, Clearlake, Modesto, Marysville, El Cajon, Ramona, Muir Beach, Mariposa, La Porte, Coffee Creek, Colusa, Alturas and Nevada City.

"I'm pleased to announce that this week we're awarding the largest number of fire grants directly to first responders and the communities they serve since we began distributing funds in June," said Under Secretary Brown. "Four hundred and eighty nine grants were awarded this past week in support of our first responders. President Bush, Secretary Ridge and I remain committed to directly funding their efforts to save lives and property through this grant program administered by Homeland Security and FEMA."

This seventeenth round of grants provides $35 million to help local fire departments purchase firefighting equipment, fund firefighter health and safety programs, enhance emergency medical services programs, and conduct fire prevention and safety programs.

Grants have been made available for fire operations and firefighter safety to the following fire departments in California:

Grants have been made available for firefighting vehicles to the following fire departments in California:

The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), a division of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), administers the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program. The program assists rural, urban and suburban fire departments throughout the United States. A list of all current award recipients announced to date is posted on the USFA Web site at www.usfa.fema.gov/grants. Future grant recipients will be listed as awards are made.

On March 1, 2003, FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. FEMA's continuing mission within the new department is to lead the effort to prepare the nation for all hazards and effectively manage federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates proactive mitigation activities, trains first responders, and manages Citizen Corps, the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration.

Last Modified: Tuesday, 07-Oct-2003 08:15:22