Sept. 26, 2001 – V.I. firefighters received more good financial news, as the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced a new award of $415,754 to purchase firefighting equipment. Funds are for personal protective equipment, fire prevention programs, wellness and fitness programs, firefighting equipment and vehicles. V.I. Fire Services is among 158 fire departments to receive grants in the latest round of awards.
Two earlier FEMA awards totaling almost $500,000 for trucks and firefighting equipment were announced in August and early September. A U.S. Agriculture Department wildland grant of $138,000, to help with special problems of fighting fires in wild and rural areas, was announced last week. And Fire Services grants writer Donald Charles Sr. reports that a grant of $49,870 from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department will go to retrofit the fireboat.
Charles is pleased with the success of grant applications and says the community will see the results in the coming months.
Delegate Donna Christian Christensen, in a release announcing the latest FEMA award, credited FEMA Region II officials with working with V.I. Fire Services to submit grant applications. "We have recently seen the importance that firefighters play in our communities," she said. "I am elated that they have been provided with this level of support."
