Press Release
$360M in hiring, recruitment grants available nationally through SAFER programSmith: Fire departments can apply for federal SAFER grant through March 17Fire departments across New Jersey can now apply for federal funding to hire and train professional firefighters or to recruit more volunteer front line firefighters, said Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ). The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program will provide $360 million Congress allocated in FY2022 in total grants for local fire departments, both volunteer and paid, around the country. The program is run by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Departments can use the grants to hire more firefighters, or retain and recruit more volunteer firefighters, to increase their capabilities and responses to fires and other emergencies in their communities. The competitive grants will be awarded to an estimated 300 fire departments across the nation to implement within the next 48 months. “This program offers federal funds to help local men and women who are our first responders–and who are so critical to the protection and safety of our communities—to help them do their jobs more safely and effectively with the proper amount of personnel,” said Rep. Smith. “I encourage both career and volunteer fire departments to consider applying for the SAFER grant.” The SAFER Program provides funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter organizations to assist in increasing the number of firefighters to help communities meet industry minimum standards and attain 24-hour staffing to provide adequate fire protection from fire and fire-related hazards, as well as perform traditional missions of fire departments. Since 2005, the SAFER Program has awarded over $5.5 billion in grant funding to provide critically needed resources to hire new, additional firefighters (or to change the status of part-time or paid-on-call firefighters to full-time firefighters), to rehire laid off firefighters, or to retain firefighters facing layoff, as well as to recruit and retain volunteer firefighters. The FY2022 SAFER grant application period opened February 13, and ends on Friday, March 17 at 5 p.m. ET. Interested organizations can find the guidance materials in applying for grants here. Smith has worked with local fire companies across his district which have previously benefitted from this SAFER program, including—but not limited to—Toms River Fire District No. 1 which Smith announced last week will receive $508,256, as well as the Trenton Fire Department which was awarded SAFER grants in fiscal years 2010, 2012 and 2014 which helped avoid layoffs for about 60 professional firefighters and the closure of four companies. In September of 2017, Middletown Township Fire Department also received a $136,675 grant through the SAFER program to help with the hiring of additional trained firefighters. The purpose of the SAFER Program is to award grants directly to eligible fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations to assist local fire departments with staffing and deployment capabilities to respond to emergencies. SAFER Program funds support two distinct activities: the Hiring Activity (Hiring), and the Recruitment and Retention Activity (R&R). Ten percent of the funding is set aside for awards to volunteer or mostly volunteer fire departments under the Hiring Activity. (Volunteer fire departments, are not eligible to apply for funding under the Hiring Activity. Career fire departments are not eligible to apply for funding under the R&R Activity.) Applicants requiring assistance should visit the FEMA website, and contact the FEMA SAFER Program Help Desk at (866) 274-0960 or firegrants@fema.dhs.gov. The SAFER Program Help Desk is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. ###
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