WASHINGTON – Congressman Spencer Bachus (AL-6) today announced a major $300,000 federal fire grant for the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters in the Sixth District and across the State of Alabama.

The grant was awarded to the Alabama Firefighters Association, which is based in Trussville. The funding will be used to boost the ranks of volunteers in 1100 fire departments throughout the state through a comprehensive data collection project and advertising recruitment campaign.

"Firefighters are on the front lines every day, protecting lives and saving property. Fire departments across the Sixth District and our state rely on volunteers to provide this protection to the public. The grant will strengthen our departments even more by helping to keep members in the fire service and attracting new volunteers to serve their communities. Volunteer firefighters willingly do so much for us, and this assistance is a way for us to show our appreciation to them," Bachus said.

Congressman Bachus announced the following grant.

Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant to the Alabama Firefighters Association for a comprehensive data collection project and statistical analysis of operations in volunteer departments throughout the state and for an advertising campaign to attract new members to the volunteer fire service

Jeff Monroe, a member of the Executive Board of the Alabama Firefighters Association, said, "We thank Congressman Bachus for working with us to secure this assistance. As a general rule, volunteer firefighters are always in short supply so this funding is very important to helping us with retention and recruitment. It will give us a clearer picture of how firefighters and their departments are operating throughout the state. We are very hopeful that the advertising campaign will bring in new people, not just to all-volunteer departments but combination departments like you see in places like Trussville, Gardendale, and Mount Olive. The more well-trained volunteers we have, the better we can provide around-the-clock protection to our communities."

The goal of the SAFER program is to enhance the ability of fire departments to attain and maintain 24-hour staffing and to assure that communities have adequate protection from fire and fire-related hazards.

The program is administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.