Congresswoman Barbara Lee Announces $7.8 Million Grant to the Oakland Fire Department
For Immediate Release: December 20, 2012
Contact: Katherine Jolly, 510-763-0370
Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) announced a $7.8 million grant through the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response program (SAFER) to increase the number of frontline firefighters to improve Oakland’s protection from fire and fire-related hazards.
“This highly competitive funding is critical to improving public safety and ensuring 24-hour staff coverage by hiring new and laid-off Oakland firefighters,” said Congresswoman Lee. “As Oakland and our nation continue to recover from the greatest economic downturn since the great depression, federal investments in public sector hiring are critical to moving our economy forward.”
The SAFER program is a funding initiative designed to strengthen the nation’s ability to respond to fire and fire-related hazards and improve the nation’s overall level of preparedness. The goal of any SAFER grant is to enhance the ability of grantees to attain and maintain 24-hour staffing and to assure that their communities have adequate protection from fire and fire-related hazards.
The specific objective of the program is to award grants directly to volunteer, combination, and career fire departments to help the departments increase the number of frontline firefighters, and to rehire firefighters who were laid-off due to the economy.
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