BY RODNEY SLAUGHTER
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)/U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) Assistance to Firefighters grant program (formerly the FIRE Act) has drawn fire departments around the country like bees to honey. The incredible amount of interest, more than 30,000 requests for funds totaling about $3 billion ($100 million was allocated for this fiscal year), is a testament to the needs of the fire service. But all of this grant activity raises several questions. Where did fire departments find grants before the FEMA grant program? How will the program affect these other sources of funding? More importantly, will you shrug your shoulders at other grant opportunities while you wait for the next round of FEMA funding?
FUNDING SOURCES
Fire departments around the country have been very creative and successful in their search for alternative funding. Generally, fire departments have been able to tap into a variety of alternate funding sources to meet their equipment and program needs. An example of other funding opportunities is Community Development Block Grants (CDBG). The El Paso (TX) Fire Department was able to build a new fire station, remodel an existing fire station, as well as purchase several large pieces of apparatus with $1.5 million in CDBG funds. Contact the Department of Housing and Urban Affairs to find out more about this grant opportunity.
The Department of Transportation is another good grant source. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has provided funding for car seats, bicycle helmets, pedestrian safety programs, and public safety announcements. In some states, the NHTSA has funded EMS programs and rescue vehicle and extrication tools and equipment.
The County of San Bernardino, California, received $5.6 million from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to build a new ARFF training facility. Other departments around the country that have commercial flights have similarly received funding from the FAA to purchase crash rescue vehicles and rescue equipment. Both the NHTSA and the FAA are agencies under the Department of Transportation.
Technology-related grants for computer-aided dispatch, mobile data terminals, and Internet access are also available from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Technology Opportunity Program (TOP). The following received grants: City of Winston-Salem, NC-$499,988 (1996); Parker Fire Protection District, OR-$500,000 (1997); and Boone County Fire Protection District, MO-$168,745 (1998). There is tremendous opportunity for the fire service to use computer technology for emergency response and training and a variety of public and private funding sources to meet the need.
Thermal imaging cameras have been the goal of many grant applications. The state of New Jersey has seen the need for and funded thermal imaging cameras for every fire department in the state. Other states will soon follow suit. But many fire departments have been just as effective finding funding at the local level from fraternal organizations such as the Elks and Kiwanis and local businesses such as Wal-Mart, Lowe’s Home Improvement, McDonald’s, and local banking institutions.
Most utility and energy-producing companies also share an interest in fire-related funding. For example, Duke Energy recently funded EMS training and equipment grants in North and South Carolina. In California, all of the utility companies have participated in the development of an emergency response for alternative-fueled vehicle training programs for first responders. Oil companies that use the miles of pipelines that run from Houston, Texas, to Chicago, Illinois, have funded extrication tools and equipment for small volunteer fire departments along the length of the pipeline.
The list of corporate sponsors includes insurance organizations such as Factory Mutual Global and State Farm, each of which has funded safety, prevention, and arson prevention/detection programs. The insurance industry has partnered with a number of state and local fire organizations to help reduce the risk of injuries and deaths from accidents and fire.
UNUSUAL SOURCES
You would be amazed at the creativity of some fire departments. The Galveston (TX) Fire Department received a grant for two thermal imaging cameras from the Historic Preservation Grant Program. This is a federal grant program open to every state. In applying for the grant, the Galveston Fire Department used the rationale that with thermal imaging, the department could locate the seat of the fire faster and extinguish it with less damage to historic structures.
The City of Palm Springs, California, received funding from the South Coast Air Quality Management District to purchase bicycles and equipment for its emergency medical technicians to ride during parades and other cultural events. The department used the justification that an ambulance idling curbside adds unnecessary pollutants to the atmosphere.
Some fire departments have secured grants to become a recycling center for glass, cans, plastic bottles, used oil, or household hazardous waste. They then can use the money generated by these grant programs for purposes such as purchasing public education literature and information. These grant programs are established through state waste management agencies or departments of conservation.
All of these grant programs demonstrate how innovative and flexible the fire service has been in locating potential funding sources.
FEMA PROGRAM BACKLASH
It is still too early to tell how the FEMA grant program will affect these other sources of funding. Many of the existing grant programs may not be affected at all. But there is some indication of a backlash. Governor Tom Ridge (PA) has opted not to include the $48 million fire grant program in his 2002 state budget, citing reduced state revenues. He believes that fire department funding should be handled at the local level. No doubt, the existence of a federal fire grant program played a role in his decision.
Other indications of a backlash include the personal water craft (PWC) loan program. Companies such as Sea-Doo, Kawasaki, Yamaha, and Polaris will withdraw their support to lend personal water craft to emergency response agencies starting this year. (For the past 10 to 12 years, each company has lent 500 PWC to emergency service agencies to the sum of $43 million annually per company.) Factors involved in this decision include declining sales from the bad publicity PWC have received related to safety and water pollution concerns. The companies will still lend PWC on a case-by-case basis, but they will be asking most emergency response agencies to begin budgeting for PWC in the immediate future.
Is the PWC industry looking to join the many emergency response equipment manufacturers standing in line to take advantage of the funding provided by the next round of FEMA grant program applications? This will be difficult for them to do without a recognized national standard for the use of PWC in water rescue.
But for every grant opportunity that disappears, another grant opportunity appears. The Department of Transportation, for example, has a new Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness Grant Program. These grants support hazardous materials emergency response planning and training activities by state, territorial, and local governments. Changes in registration fees for hazardous materials will increase funding to $12.8 million annually.
Only 10 percent of the 30,000 FEMA grant program applications will be funded this year. The other 90 percent will have to continue to rely on traditional grant programs. The need for fire department funding is obvious. The question remains, however: Will you sit and wait for the next FEMA grant opportunity, or will you actively pursue the other opportunities available to you?
RODNEY SLAUGHTER is the president of Dragonfly Communications Network. He has served the fire service for 24 years, spending 14 years as a military and civilian firefighter for the U.S. Air Force and 10 years as a code enforcement officer and grant program coordinator for the Office of the California State Fire Marshal. He studied fire science at Honolulu Community College and has a B.A. in anthropology from C.S.U., Sacramento.
