Additional SAFER Get Ready Guides Now Available

The Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) program’s Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) application period will be opening soon! The SAFER grants have two different activities in which you can apply, the Hiring activity and the Recruitment and Retention activity. FEMA has developed Get Ready Guides for each activity. These handy guides will kick-start your grant application planning and help you to thoroughly answer all the grant application questions.

The purpose of the Hiring grants is to assist fire departments in increasing their cadre of frontline firefighters. These grants are intended to create a net increase in the number of trained, certified, and competent firefighters capable of safely responding to emergencies within the grantee’s geographic response area. The goal is to assist local fire departments with staffing and deployment capabilities so they may respond to emergencies whenever they occur, assuring their communities have adequate protection from fire and fire-related hazards.

Click HERE to access the SAFER Hiring Get Ready Guide (PDF 1 MB)

The purpose of the Recruitment and Retention grants is to assist fire departments and/or statewide or local volunteer firefighter interest organizations with the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters who are involved with, or trained in, the operations of firefighting and emergency response. These grants are intended to create a net increase in the number of trained, certified, and competent firefighters capable of safely responding to emergencies within the grantee’s geographic response area.

Click HERE to access the SAFER Recruitment and Retention Get Ready Guide (PDF 1MB)

Stay tuned to the AFG website, www.fema.gov/firegrants for more tools and resources to help you prepare your SAFER application!