Waterville receives $229,334 to purchase breathing apparatus

photo from Waterville Fire & Rescue Facebook page

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced today $40.8 million in direct assistance grants to 202 fire departments nationwide through the agency’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program. Additional phases will soon be announced.

The Waterville Fire Department will receive $229,334 from FEMA for an Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG). The grant will be used to purchase 34 breathing apparatuses for Waterville’s firefighters.

In addition, the announcement includes Assistance to Firefighters Grants to Windham, Cascp, Standish, Gorham and Brunswick.

The primary goal of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) is to meet the firefighting and emergency response needs of fire departments and nonaffiliated emergency medical service organizations. Since 2001, AFG has helped firefighters and other first responders obtain critically needed equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training and other resources necessary for protecting the public and emergency personnel from fire and related hazards.

This grant is funded through FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program. Eligible applicants include local fire departments, fire districts, nonaffiliated EMS organizations, tribal fire departments and State Fire Training Academies. The grant applications are submitted from each agency directly to FEMA, where the applications are reviewed and scored by fire service personnel from throughout the nation.

FEMA obligates funding for this project directly to the recipient agencies. It is the recipient agency’s responsibility to manage their grant award within federal guidelines with technical assistance and monitoring provided by FEMA Fire Program Specialists.

Additional information about FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighters grant program(s) may be found at https://www.fema.gov/firegrants.