ICYMI: Senator Carper Leads Passage of Bipartisan Legislation to Extend Federal Support for Local Fire Departments ➞

In Case You Missed It, last week U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), co-chair of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus, led the Senate passage of the bipartisan Fire Grants and Safety Act to extend federal programs that help support local fire departments across the country. This legislation will reauthorize the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program, the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program, and the United States Fire Administration (USFA) to address staffing needs, purchase equipment, develop fire training and education programs, and improve emergency medical services. The legislation now heads to the President's desk to be signed into law.

See more in The News Journal, WDEL (radio), WGMD (radio), and below:

Federal lawmakers keep grant funding for Delaware fire departments, EMS available

By: Kelly Powers

June 19, 2024

The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 is set to see some refreshment that keeps several funding sources from running dry.

The Fire Grants and Safety Act ensures some 58 registered fire departments in Delaware and the Delaware Fire School will maintain access to federal grant programs like Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, or SAFER, and the Assistance to Firefighters Grant, according to Sen. Tom Carper's office. These grants totaled nearly $4 million in funding to Delaware outfits in fiscal years 2021 and 2022.

They were about three months away from statutory sunset. The bipartisan legislation, authored by Sen. Carper and three fellow lawmakers, now heads to the president's desk, likely securing funding for another five years. […]

Fresh off his own vote, Carper sees the bill as guarding basic quality of life. But also, doing so in an unpredictable climate crisis.

"Quality of life is also the ability to respond to disasters, in many cases, natural disasters," said the Democrat finishing his final year in the Senate. "That could be lightning strikes; when the area is just incredibly dry; it could be floods that flow from, not just tornadoes and hurricanes, but just from regular high rising seawaters. And again, there's responsibility to deal with these threats." […]

"Firefighters put their lives on the line every day to protect families and communities across the First State and the country," Sen. Carper said of the federal legislation. "It is our duty as lawmakers to provide the critical tools and training they need to effectively do their jobs, and I'm proud to have led the effort to send the bipartisan Fire Grants and Safety Act to President Biden's desk." […]

WDEL

June 19, 2024

Delaware has more than 6,000 firefighters. The great majority are volunteers. How would a bill in Washington affect their operations?

Senator Tom Carper says the jobs of these firefighters get more difficult every year, the volume of emergency calls steadily increases and weather conditions are more extreme. Carper spoke on the Senate floor in support of the Fire Grants and Safety Act, which reauthorizes a grant program to allow for adequate staffing and emergency response.

[Senator Carper:] "And it provides funding to local fire departments to hire much needed personnel to respond round the clock to emergency situations."

It also includes the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program:

[Senator Carper:] "Which helps provide fire departments and emergency medical service organizations with the vital training and equipment, like fire trucks and protective gear, that they need."

Carper says Delaware fire companies have described these types of grant programs as a life line for their activities.

WGMD

June 20, 2024

Bipartisan legislation that has passed the Senate will benefit firefighters and the communities they serve. In his speech, Senator Tom Carper said the Fire Grants and Safety Act reauthorizes two critical grant programs that fire departments across the nation rely on to safeguard our communities:

[Senator Carper:] "The first is called the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant program and it provides funding to local fire departments to hire much needed personnel to respond round the clock to emergency situations."

The second is the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program, which helps provide fire departments and emergency medical service organizations with the vital training and equipment like fire trucks and protective gear that they need.

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