Durbin Announces a More Than $200,000 FEMA Grant to Chatham Firefighters
[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced today that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has awarded a $235,272 grant to the Chatham Fire Protection District in Chatham, Illinois for hiring initiatives aimed at increasing the number of frontline firefighters.
“Day after day, our nation's firefighters are called upon to protect communities in Illinois and around the country,” Durbin said. “It’s our job to ensure that these brave men and women who put themselves in harm’s way are equipped with the best resources possible to do their jobs well. Recruiting, hiring and training new firefighters with today’s grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will help in that effort.”
This funding is provided through the Fiscal Year 2011 DHS’s Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program. The SAFER program seeks to enhance a department’s ability to maintain 24-hour staffing and ensures that the community has adequate protection from fire and fire-related hazards. In Fiscal Year 2011, the program will award approximately $380 million directly to fire departments and volunteer support groups to expand the number of firefighters available to more effectively protect the health and safety of the public.