Success Stories

Sharon Hill Fire Company is currently in the final year of a SAFER Recruitment and Retention Award intended to increase qualified firefighter staffing levels and reduce response times. Part of the award provides a nominal stipend to volunteer firefighters who staff in-station duty crew shifts.

On October 15^th, 2023 at 2300hrs the station was alerted to a reported dwelling fire in the district. As a direct result of the in-station staffing program, two SAFER duty shift firefighters along with additional members were able to respond and arrive on location within 60 seconds of the dispatch. The fully staffed engine crew confirmed a working kitchen fire and quickly stretched a 1.75” line to knock the fire. The immediate response with sufficient qualified firefighters resulted in rapid extinguishment with very minimal extension beyond the kitchen and no injuries to civilians or firefighters. Without question, funding from the SAFER award helped generate the positive outcome at this incident.

We assisted Southwest Greensburg Fire Department in Westmoreland County, PA in preparing their FY2020 SAFER application. We also continue to help them properly manage the award.  I wanted to share a remarkable success story that occurred as a direct result of this award. 

On Feb 5, 2023,  Southwest Greensburg Fire Department (SWGFD) was dispatched as automatic aid to an automatic fire alarm at a 12 story high rise in the neighboring City of Greensburg. The City Fire Chief arrived and reported he had an active fire on the 9th floor. The ladder truck from SWGFD responded very quickly and arrived on scene shortly after the City Fire Chief.  SWGFD firefighter Tony Hunter was serving on the SAFER funded stipend duty crew at the time and was therefore part of the staffing on the ladder truck. Upon arrival, firefighter Hunter climbed 9 flights of stairs and met up with a Greensburg City Firefighter. Together, they proceeded to the fire apartment and effected a rescue of one victim. The victim has since made a full recovery. Firefighter Hunter has received a City of Greensburg Commendation, The Western PA Fire Association Valor Award, and the Southwest Greensburg Fire Department Life Saving Award.

I felt compelled to share this story with you because Firefighter Hunter was in the station, able to respond quickly, and ultimately perform a life saving rescue as a direct result of the SAFER Program – A testament that the SAFER Program makes a positive impact at countless incidents every day.

This FY2021 AFG award provided an incredibly important financial lifeline to Mountain Top Hose Company. Specifically, this award made it possible to replace 16 portable radios and 4 mobile radios that were so old they could not be upgraded to function on Luzerne County’s new radio system. Without support from AFG and FEMA, the cost of today’s P25 digital radios built for the fire service would have simply been out of reach for our department. As a result, our volunteer firefighters would have been forced to operate at a significant disadvantage with extremely limited communications capabilities. However, this award made it possible to outfit every apparatus and every seated riding position with a modern, compliant, and interoperable radio. Not only has this project improved our fire and rescue capabilities, but it has also enhanced firefighter safety.

Suburban EMS is a very busy non-affiliated EMS agency that serves more than 125,000 people across 19 municipalities in Monroe and Northampton Counties.

Prior to this award, two thirds of the ambulances were outfitted with very old and heavy litters that required manual lifting and loading and caused tremendous physical strain on a daily basis for our EMS personnel. As a result, our personnel suffered numerous lifting related injuries with significant work days lost and expensive worker’s compensation claims.

With help from AFG, our department has finally been able to outfit 100% of our ambulances with battery operated, hydraulically powered litters and cot loading/fastening systems. A major physical burden on our personnel has been removed as lifting and loading of patients is now accomplished with the push of a button. Without question, this award has dramatically improved the health and safety of our EMS personnel and patients while also achieving a positive return on the Federal investment by reducing the frequency and severity of provider injuries.

Fame Emergency Medical Services, Inc. is a non-profit, non-affiliated EMS service located in Mifflin County, PA. Our primary service territory covers 410 square miles and is home to 46,138 permanent residents. We are the only ALS provider in Mifflin County.

Our department and our community are incredibly grateful to FEMA and the AFG program for providing critical funding to purchase three automatic chest compression devices. While we previously had ACCDs for three of our ambulances, this project has allowed us to outfit the remaining three ambulances with these important devices. Since we began using ACCDs, the rate of successfully achieving ROSC after cardiac arrest has increased dramatically. We anticipate even further improvements in the ROSC rate now that every ambulance is equipped with this important equipment. Without question, this project will continue to deliver life-saving benefits to our community for many years to come.

Countless studies have demonstrated a link between exposure to dirty structural firefighting turnout gear and an increased risk of cancer among firefighters. After each fire, the turnout gear becomes embedded with the byproducts of partial combustion that are known to be carcinogens and other toxic chemicals.

Elkins Park Fire Company is extremely appreciative of funding from the FY2021 AFG program to enable the purchase and installation of an NFPA 1851 compliant turnout gear washer and dryer. This equipment will ensure that contaminated turnout gear can be washed immediately after every fire or other contaminating incident. By constantly maintain clean gear, we will reduce the long-term risk of cancer among our firefighters. Furthermore, the compliant gear washer with proper temperature and spin speeds will prolong the useful life of the gear and save money in the long run.

Charleroi Fire Department is a 100% volunteer department located in Washington County, PA, outside of Pittsburgh. After working with another grant writer for several years without success, they contacted Firehouse Grants. Since then, they’ve been successful with AFG applications three years in a row, landing awards for 22 sets of SCBA, 29 sets of turnout gear, and 6,300 feet of hose (plus nozzles and appliances). These three awards alone totaled $262,110 in Federal funding.

Voorhees Township Fire Department serves a suburban area in southern New Jersey, outside of Philadelphia. When the Township assumed responsibility of the fire department after the fire district was disbanded in 2017, the newly-formed combination department faced a massive budget deficit and urgently needed to replace old and neglected equipment. With the help of Firehouse Grants, they leveraged their limited funding into a $153,637 AFG award for SCBA, followed by a $1,438,477 SAFER award to hire nine additional career firefighters.

Wingo Volunteer Fire Department serves a rural district covering 175 sq mi in Graves County, Kentucky, in the southwestern part of the state. The department needed to replace expired SCBA, but with a budget almost entirely from donations, there was no way they could afford full replacement on their own. After initial discussions with Firehouse Grants, they were worried about spending their limited budget to hire a grant writer so they decided to apply for an AFG grant on their own in 2017. After receiving a turndown notice, it became obvious that they needed expert assistance. Spending the money to hire Firehouse Grants was clearly a big decision for a small department, but it paid off big time with a $98,590 award to replace 16 sets of SCBA.

In 2017, Firehouse Grants had the opportunity to assist Warrenton Rural Volunteer Fire Department of Warren County, North Carolina in preparing a successful AFG award for $161,334 to replace 28 sets of SCBA. Word of the success and the highly professional experience spread throughout the county. Not surprisingly, when the county firefighter’s association and the county manager identified a need to replace portable and mobile radios, they called the team at Firehouse Grants. Although the scale and scope of a regional application is considerably more complex, Firehouse Grants provided the strategic oversight and online tools to streamline the process of gathering all of the required information. By preparing a unique, comprehensive, and compelling application, Firehouse Grants was able to secure a Regional AFG award for all thirteen fire departments in Warren County to purchase new radios, resulting in a $639,000 award.