The City of Fort Mitchell has received a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant in the amount of $664,652 in federal funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of the United States Department of Homeland Security.
Fort Mitchell Fire Chief Adam Fuller said the City applied for the grant back in May.
“The grant will allow us to hire a full-time employee to handle all recruitment/retention of personnel,” said Fuller.
The grant will also fund six college interns who will have their tuition paid up to a pre-determined amount in exchange for service to the Fort Mitchell Fire Department. The grant also has funding to add five new volunteers per year and will pay for their gear, EMT class cost, and basic firefighter training costs.
“We are very fortunate to have received this Federal funding from FEMA which will go a long way in helping our current and future Fire Department personnel,” said Fort Mitchell Mayor Jude Hehman.
According to FEMA, the purpose of the SAFER Grant Program is to provide funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations to assist in increasing the number of firefighters to help communities meet industry minimum standards and attain 24-hour staffing to provide adequate protection from fire and fire-related hazards, and to fulfill traditional missions of fire departments.
When members of the public are at risk and rescue is the real priority, time is very unforgiving as the clock ticks on. At the site of any emergency facing crews, which might be a rapidly spreading building fire where firefighters have to quickly get to work