By Ed Somers
March 15, 2004

The Department of Homeland Security opened on March 1 the application period for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program March 1. It will be open through Friday, April 2, 2004.

The Assistance for Firefighters Grant Program (AFGP) is administered by the Department of Homeland Security's Office for Domestic Preparedness. Congress provided $745.6 million for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program for FY 2004 and transferred administration of the program from FEMA to ODP.

Fire departments can apply for funding in three program areas: 1) operations and firefighter safety; 2) fire prevention; and 3) firefighter vehicle acquisition.

A 30 percent match is required for cities over 50,000, with a 10 percent match for cities under 50,000. Fire departments cannot receive more than $750,000. And, FEMA states that "throughout the process, career departments will be competing against other career departments for up to 45 percent of the available funding. Volunteer and combination departments will compete amongst each other for at least 55 percent of the available funding."

As in past years, the Application and Program Guidance are automated and available online at http://www.usfa.fema.gov/ and http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/odp/. Additionally, these websites contain other useful background information on the AFGP, including a tutorial on applying for the program, a list of Frequently Asked Questions and the currently scheduled AFGP workshops.

In addition, by going to http://www.usfa.fema.gov/, you can view detailed state-by-state, department by department listings of past award recipients under the fire grant program.