Davis Announces Federal Firefighter Grants to Local Fire Departments

Press Release

U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill) today announced the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in cooperation with the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) has awarded Assistance to Firefighters (AFG) grants totaling $1,695,356 to seven fire departments in Illinois' 13th Congressional District.

The grants will be used to purchase items such as fire hoses and communications technology amongst other things depending on the department. The receiving organizations and amounts are as follows:

Carlinville Fire Department: $999,140.00

Note: This is a new regional communications system that will be used by Carlinville FD, Girard FPD, Virden FPD, Northwestern FPD (Palmyra-Hettick), Unit 7 FPD (Gillespie-Benld-Dorchester), Gillespie-Benld Area Ambulance Service, and Prairieland Ambulance (Virden). This award is the largest AFG grant announced in the State of Illinois so far this year.

Morrisonville-Palmer Fire Protection District: $44,857.14

Pana Fire Department: $64,860.95

Prairietown (Worden) Fire Department: $95,504.76

Taylor Springs Fire Department: $25,439.05

University of Illinois Fire Service Institute: $426,086.96

Witt Volunteer Fire Department: $39,467.62

"I'm a proud supporter of AFG grants in Congress because they are critical to helping our fire departments protect themselves and the citizens they serve. Taxpayers in these communities pay into the system and it's important they see the benefits. As we approach the 20th anniversary of 9/11 it is a solemn reminder that we owe our firefighters much," said Davis.

"This AFG regional communication grant is extremely beneficial to various fire and ambulance services in the area because it sets up all communication equipment for digital capabilities in the future if needed. More important, grant funds will be used rather than out of the budget. Equipment includes radios for the trucks and station, portable radios and pagers. This will also help the communication between these departments as we run mutual aid calls together. We all are very thankful for the grant and opportunity to apply," said Jess McKee, Fire Chief, Carlinville Fire Protection District. "Rural agencies such as ours depends greatly on these federal grants to purchase new equipment in order to stay compliant with NFPA and OSHA regulations. Fundraising simply isn't enough as we must look for outside financial assistance to help supplement our operating budget to provide our firefighters with safe and reliable equipment to uphold our mission of quality fire protection to the communities we serve. Some of the hose replaced by this grant is more than 30 years old and has seen thousands of hour of operation. Without this type of funding, fire departments in rural America would be at a constant financial disadvantage and be unable to perform their most basic missions," said Daniel Rogers, Asst. Fire Chief, Witt Volunteer Fire Department.

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