On October 28th the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the ninth round of the Fiscal Year 2005 (FY 2005) Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFGP) awarding 540 grants to fire departments throughout the United States, the total of this rounds grants is $55.6 Million Dollars. The AFPG is commonly known as the "Fire Grants" Program in the fire service.

In FY 2005 the AFGP will issue approximately 5,500 awards worth nearly $600 million in direct assistance to firefighters and other First Responders (i.e. EMS agencies) throughout the country, demonstrating Homeland Security's commitment to ensuring that America's firefighters have the resources they need to protect their communities from all hazards.

Matt A. Mayer, Acting Executive Director of the Office for State and Local Government Coordination & Preparedness (SLGCP) was quoted as saying, "We recognize the importance of the Fire Act Grants to our nation's fire departments and we will continue to work closely with the fire service community to meet their needs".

This ninth round of fire grants provides $55,698,805 to help local fire departments and emergency medical services programs to purchase or receive training, first responder health and safety programs, equipment and response vehicles.

"The Federal government continues to support the critical work of our nation's firefighters by ensuring departments attain a basic capability level through the competitive Assistance to Firefighters Grant program," said Charlie Dickinson, Deputy Administrator of the Department of Homeland Security's United States Fire Administration.

The Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program is administered by the Department's Office for State and Local Government Coordination & Preparedness (SLGCP) in cooperation with the United States Fire Administration (USFA).

SLGCP is the principal federal agency responsible for the preparedness of the United States for acts of terrorism, including coordinating preparedness efforts at the federal level, and working with all state, local, tribal, parish, and private sector emergency response providers on all matters pertaining to combating terrorism, including training, exercises and equipment support. To support this mission, SLGCP administers a number of programs that provide a wide array of support to our nation's emergency preparedness and response community. For more information on SLGCP, please visit the Website at www.ojp.gov/odp.
The USFA is a division of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The mission of the USFA is to reduce life and economic losses due to fire and related emergencies, through leadership, advocacy, coordination, and support. For more information on USFA, please visit the website at http://www.usfa.fema.gov.

To view the latest round of award announcements as well as the previous eight rounds awardees please visit: http://www.firegrantsupport.com/awards