Firefighter Assistance Grants?

[Medic2588]

Does anyone have any experience with the Firefighter Assistance Grants from FEMA, particularly the Vehicle Aquistion program? If awarded, does FEMA pay for the entire vehicle or just part and you have to match the rest?

Devin

[island emt]

Devin : the AFG program has a set of criteria that have to be figured into the formula. depending on the size of the population served you are required to match funds from 5% up to 20 % of the total cost for vehicle acquisition. the odds of getting a vehicle grant are much lower than getting a grant for health + safety training or equipment. Check out this forum for lots of grant info http://forums.firehouse.com/forumdisplay.php?f=355

[Medic2588]

Thanks for the info. I'm doing the grant writing work for a couple of departments. I've been pushing the safety and training program, but you know how some people can be when they hear they might be able to get a vehicle.

Devin

[island emt]

anytime Devin. we have written AFG grants four times + been successful once. it was for airpacks +a cascade system with a station based compressor. I do know of a few depts that qualified for apparatus grants, + all of them had a severe need to replace a 30+ year old engine or tanker that didn't meet NFPA regs. Happy grant writing .

[emtfan]

Devin,

They actually hold some grant writing seminars around us tied to this program. And, as noted before, there's tons of information on their website. It seems to me you either go for a vehicle, or go for other stuff, like training materials, PPE equipment, etc. One of our guys went to one of the seminars and the take away point was be focused in your narrative to what it is you want, why and how the world will benefit from it. He also suggested to target one area, rather than ask for an array of different items not connected.

Rich

[Medic2588]

Rich, I took a bunch of grant management courses through FEMA and the NJ Department of Health. I'm familar with the Homeland Security Technical Assistance Grants and the Healthcare Resources and Service Administration Grants, but I wasn't sure about the cost sharing for the Firefighter Assistance grants.

Thanks to everyone for the info!

Devin

[Dustdevil]

AFG's? Wouldn't they more correctly be called...

oh, nevermind.

[emtfan]

No sweat. And yeah, there's that little 5% factor, which, on a vehicle could be a sizeable chunk of change.

[Kansas Stan]

We put in applications twice and were awarded funding the second time. Very fortunate, to say the least. I got lots of input from others. One of the things that was stressed to me was to mention in your narrative the ways that your dept cooperates and assists others (mutual aid, etc) We do a lot of that out here in the vast wilderness of the Kansas prairie. Ours was a 10% funding deal with our city and township sharing 5% each of the truck cost. Any other questions you have...I'd be happy to try to answer.

[ddjs2000]

I personally applied for the FEMA asst. to FF grant in 05 and it was awarded our Dept a new pumper. The bid was for 145000 and we paid 5% You have to have funds for the % but a check is sent to your Dept for the balance. Read the stipulations and make sure you follow thru on process.