The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced a series of free regional workshops to educate fire departments about the Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program, commonly known as the FIRE Act. The IAFC encourages fire chiefs or their designees to attend one of these workshops, which will be held from late January through March 2006, and to apply for an AFG grant. If you are unable to attend a workshop, please contact an AFG official (via the link below) for an electronic copy of the PowerPoint presentation.
Congress created the AFG Program in 2000 to address the fact that too many fire departments in this country lack even the most basic needs, including proper turnout gear, training, communication systems, and prevention and public education programs. By providing funding to local fire departments for these items, the program helps the nation’s fire and emergency services achieve a baseline level of readiness. The DHS Office of Grants and Training, formerly the Office of State and Local Government Preparedness, awards the grants directly to local fire departments through a competitive and peer-reviewed process. Communities must “buy in” to the program by contributing part of the cost. Congress appropriated $545 million for the program for FY 2006.
DHS will hold workshops in 10 regions throughout the country. To view the schedule in your region, please visit http://www.firegrantsupport.com/Workshop/display/workshops.aspx.
For a list of regional representatives, please visit http://wwwfiregrantsupport.com/05_reps_workshop.aspx.
DHS expects to post the applicant tutorial, program guidance, and a list of frequently asked questions at http://www.firegrantsupport.com by mid-February. The IAFC will send another member alert when the information becomes available.