WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) today praised the award of $459,013 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant funding to strengthen emergency response preparedness in Mississippi communities.  The grants have been awarded under FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) program.

“Municipal and volunteer fire departments apply for this federal assistance to improve their capacity to protect the public.  I am pleased that these resources will be used to enhance fire protection in our state,” said Cochran, who serves on the Senate appropriations subcommittee that funds FEMA. 

“Mississippi’s firefighters – many of them volunteers – are on the front lines when it comes to keeping people safe.  This important grant program ensures our firefighters have the resources to continue doing their jobs and protecting the public in emergency situations,” Wicker said. 

AFG grants are awarded on a competitive basis by FEMA in cooperation with the U.S. Fire Administration.  Fire departments and emergency medical service organizations that are not affiliated with a hospital may apply for operations and safety or vehicle acquisition funding.

To date this year, 71 AFG grants worth nearly $5.5 million have been awarded to Mississippi municipal and volunteer fire departments for operations and safety or vehicle acquisition.  These competitive grants are funded through the FY2009 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill.  The following are the latest FY2009 AFG awards approved for Mississippi:

The following eight new FY2009 Assistance for Firefighters Grant Program awards have been approved for Mississippi:

Operations and Safety
• Abel’s Store Volunteer Fire Department, Ashland – $39,259
• Collins Fire Department, Collins – $42,940
• Greenville Fire Department, Greenville – $47,880
• Hattiesburg Fire Department, Hattiesburg – $64,760
• Lumberton Fire Department Support Group, Lumberton – $66,255 
• Northwest Volunteer Fire Department, Wiggins – $92,256
• Sharkey/Hampton Lake Volunteer Fire Department, Charleston – $23,750
• Unity Volunteer Fire Department, Guntown – $81,913

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