Ill. fire department receives grant to add firefighters

By Deana Stroisch
The State Journal- Register

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Springfield Fire Department has been awarded a nearly $2.5 million federal grant that will help pay for 20 new firefighters for two years, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin announced Wednesday.

Springfield Fire Chief Ken Fustin said the grant will help the department hire much-needed new firefighters to fill vacancies caused byrecent retirements.

About 50 of the department's 200 employees are eligible to retire by March 2013.

"This is a huge, huge deal for the Springfield Fire Department and the city of Springfield," Fustin said.

The grant, awarded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is funded through the Department of Homeland Security's Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program.

The program helps departments maintain 24-hour staffing and ensures that a community has adequate protection from fire and fire-related hazards.

Springfield's grant was among $420 million awarded nationwide as part of a program initiated during the last federal fiscal year.

"Our nation's firefighters are called upon day after day to protect America's citizens," Durbin said in a statement. "As these brave men and women put themselves in harm's way, we must ensure that they are equipped with the best resources possible to do their jobs well and that fire departments have enough trained firefighters."

Fustin credited former Fire Chief Barry Helmerichs and Deputy Chief Rick Weber, the grant writer, for the successful application.

The fire department is currently testing potential new firefighters. More than 600 people passed the written test. Interviews begin next week.

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