La Salle County Fire Rescue to Receive $1.6 Million Federal Grant

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 -- The office of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, issued the following news release:

La Salle County Fire Rescue was awarded a $1.6 million federal grant to increase the number of firefighters and support their work, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn announced today. The funding comes through the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program, which provides direct funding to fire departments and volunteer firefighter organizations to help increase the number of trained firefighters.

"Firefighters are on the front lines of keeping our communities safe, and they deserve every resource possible at their disposal," said Sen. Cornyn. "I applaud area leaders for their work to obtain this grant, and I'm grateful to the Trump Administration for supporting La Salle County Fire Rescue."

The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program helps fire departments increase the number of frontline firefighters. The goal is for fire departments to increase their staffing and deployment capabilities and ultimately attain 24-hour staffing, thus assuring that their communities have adequate protection from fire and fire-related hazards.

The SAFER grants support two specific activities: (1) the hiring of firefighters, and (2) recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters. SAFER is part of the Assistance to Firefighters Grants and is under the Office of Grants and Training of the Department of Homeland Security.