(ABOVE) Danville Fire Chief Aaron Marcott
The Danville Fire Department recently received notice that they’ll be receiving the “Assistance to Firefighters Grant” from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Chief Aaron Marcott says they first applied for the grant after the first of the year, with Lieutenant Ryan Allison writing the grant. It amounts to over $244,000 in funding, with a $22,000 match from the city.
Chief Marcott says this will pay for numerous items related to six additional firefighters hired this past February.
AUDIO: This essentially will pay for all their gear that we had to equip them with. Their radios, their masks, personal bunker gear that we wear. And then it will pay for the training that they’ve undergone as probationary firefighters. And then it will also pay for the salaries of the people that we had to use during that time they were away.
Chief Marcott says the next grant Danville Fire is waiting to hear about is FEMA’s “Safer Grant,” which would be worth even more, up in the $675,000 range. They hope to know about that one in August or September.
The Danville Fire Department is currently at its minimum budgeted amount of 45 active firefighters, plus two others working in the front office. But the “Safer Grant” would allow them to hire additional firefighters, in addition to paying the first three years of their salaries.
