OpportunityTitle: FY 2008 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER)
CategoryExplanation: Hiring of firefighters and/or recruitment and retention activities for volunteer firefighters.    Homeland Security &#150; Preparedness
AdditionalInformationOnEligibility: Volunteer, career, and combination fire departments are eligible to apply under the Hiring of Firefighters Activity.  Municipalities and fire districts may submit applications on behalf of fire departments that lack the legal status to do so, such as departments under the auspices of the municipality or district.  Each eligible applicant is limited to one application per application period.    Eligibility for this activity is limited to volunteer and combination fire departments (see &#147;SAFER Grants Definitions&#148;).  Statewide or local organizations that represent the interests of volunteer firefighters and individual fire departments (volunteer or combination) may apply for assistance for regional projects.  An individual fire department may act as a &#147;host applicant&#148; and apply for regional projects on behalf of itself and any number of neighboring fire departments.  For example, a host applicant could apply for a regional media campaign promoting volunteerism.
Description: The SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) grants are awarded under a competitive process and managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency&#146;s Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) Program Office. SAFER grants provide financial assistance to help fire departments increase their cadre of frontline firefighters. The goal is to assist the local fire departments&#146; staffing and deployment capabilities, in order to respond to emergencies whenever they occur, assuring that their communities have adequate protection from fire and fire-related hazards. The SAFER grants have two activities that will help grantees in this endeavor: (1) hiring of firefighters and (2) recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters. (1) The Hiring of Firefighters Activity involves a grant with a five-year period of performance that provides fire departments with funding to pay a portion of the salaries and benefits of newly hired firefighters. These grants are awarded directly to volunteer, combination, and career fire departments to help the departments increase their number of frontline firefighters. Having more firefighters on staff should enhance the local fire department&#146;s abilities to comply with staffing, response, and operational standards established by NFPA and OSHA. (2) Recruitment and Retention of Volunteer Firefighters Activity involves grants is to assist fire departments with the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters. The grants are intended to create a net increase in the number of trained, certified, and competent firefighters capable of safely responding to emergencies likely to occur within the grantee&#146;s geographic response area. The primary focus of this activity is the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters who are involved with, or trained in, the operations of firefighting and emergency response. Applicants are allowed to submit only one application during this application period and may include either one or both activities.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: firegrants@dhs.gov
GrantorContactText: Department of Homeland Security &lt;br/&gt;Federal Emergency Management Agency &lt;br/&gt;Grant Program Directorate (GPD) &lt;br/&gt;500 C St SW &lt;br/&gt;Washington, DC  20472 &lt;br/&gt; &lt;br/&gt;Tel:  1-866-274-0960 &lt;br/&gt;Fax:  202-786-9938 &lt;br/&gt;
CloseDateExplanation: Applicants are advised to carefully review the submission requirements and program priorities contained in the FY 2008 SAFER Program Guidance.  The Program Guidance is accessible at grant program&#146;s official Website at www.firegrantsupport.com.      The SAFER application is not available via Grants.gov.  However, the application may be accessed via the above referenced Website.