I want to pass on some important information from Congressman Hank Johnson.
Congressman Johnson wants you to be aware that today, FEMA announced that $360 million is available for the Fiscal Year 2024 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program. SAFER will award these funds directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations across the nation to help them increase or maintain the number of trained firefighters available in their community.
FEMA also announced that applications will be accepted for $36 million available through the FY 2024 Fire Prevention and Safety (FP&S) grant program. These funds help strengthen community fire prevention programs and support scientific research on innovations that improve firefighter safety, health and well-being.
During 2024, there were approximately 4,200 home fire fatalities in the United States, including 61 firefighters. To help keep communities and firefighters safer, FEMA will award SAFER 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, provide adequate fire protection from fire and fire-related hazards and fulfill traditional missions of fire departments.
The purpose of the FP&S Grant Program is to award grants directly to fire departments, national, regional, state, local, Tribal Nation and non-profit organizations such as academic (e.g., universities), research foundations, public safety institutes, public health, occupational health and injury prevention institutions for fire prevention programs and to support firefighter health and safety research and development such as clinical studies that address behavioral, social science and cultural research.
The application period for both the FY24 SAFER and FP&S programs will open at 9 a.m. ET on May 23, 2025, and close on July 3, 2025, at 5 p.m. ET.
Since 2005, the SAFER program has awarded approximately $5.2 billion in grant funding. FP&S has awarded nearly $900 million since its inception in 2002.
FY 2024 SAFER: visit here.
FP&S: visit here.
Additional information about upcoming webinars to assist applicants is also available on the FEMA website.