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AMSTERDAM, NY—Congressman Paul D. Tonko is announcing today a $1,760,000 grant awarded to the Firemen's Association of the State of New York (FASNY) in Albany to support recruitment and retention of local volunteer firefighters. The grant will be administered as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Program.

“In the midst of this public health crisis, our volunteer firefighters continue to answer the call and put their lives on the line to serve when we need them most,” Congressman Tonko said. “These brave men and women work to protect our families and communities even as they are forced to operate with limited funding and resources. Those funding challenges are only made worse by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We need to do far more to make sure our first responders can remain safe and on the job through this crisis and beyond, which is why I continue to push for the Senate and White House to take up our Heroes Act, a COVID-19 rescue plan passed by the House of Representatives that rises to the challenge we now face. Our frontline workers, families, businesses and communities are all counting on us to get this job done. As our heroic firefighters continue to protect and serve our community, I will not stop fighting to make sure that they have the resources they need.”

“FASNY and the entire volunteer fire service in New York State is extremely grateful to our Federal partners for this grant that will go a long way in supporting our ongoing efforts to recruit and retain volunteer firefighters across the state,” said FASNY President John Farrell. “We greatly appreciate Congressman Tonko and the entire New York delegation’s leadership and advocacy on behalf of our state’s 85,000 dedicated men and women of the volunteer fire service.”

This is Round 4 of the Department of Homeland Security's FY 2019 SAFER awards. The SAFER Program makes available $350 million in competitive grants to fire departments and national, state, local, or federally recognized tribal organizations representing the interests of volunteer firefighters with the primary focus to enlist or retain volunteer firefighters who are trained in the operations of firefighting and emergency response.

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