NC fire department gets $328K grant

WHKY

CONOVER, N.C. — Congressman Patrick McHenry announced that a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant in the amount of $328,820 has been awarded to a fire department in the Tenth Congressional District.

The grant will go to the City of Conover Fire Department in Catawba County, and comes in the eighth round of this year’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFG), which aims to help firefighters and first responders throughout the country.  Local departments applied for the grants, and the program is administered by the Grant Programs Directorate of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in cooperation with the U.S. Fire Administration. The grant funds will be used to purchase forty new airpacks and twenty-five new sets of turnout gear. 

A panel of fire experts at DHS awards AFG grants through a competitive review process. Congressman McHenry hosts workshops for 10th District EMS and fire departments to help guide personnel through the process and give them an inside view of what the committee looks for. The workshops are taught by Cherryville Fire Chief Jeff Cash, a nationally recognized expert in his field and former member of DHS’s AFG review committee.  Since Congressman McHenry and Chief Cash began the program, 10th District EMS and fire departments have consistently won more grants than departments in most of North Carolina’s other Congressional Districts.

Full story: Congressman's Office Announces Fire Department In Catawba County To Receive Homeland Security Grant