DHS Makes $360 Million Available to Communities to Increase Number of Trained Firefighters and Keep Communities Safe

Additional $36 Million to be Made Available for Research to Improve Firefighter Health and Safety

WASHINGTON – Under the leadership of President Trump, states and localities will be empowered to manage disasters and emergencies. These fire grant programs align with that vision by helping communities build the response capabilities they need to keep their citizens and communities safe.

Today, FEMA announced that $360 million in funding are available to help keep communities and firefighters safe through the Fiscal Year 2024 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program. FEMA will award SAFER grants directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations across the country to help them increase or maintain the number of trained firefighters available in their communities. 

FEMA also announced that applications will be accepted for $36 million available through the FY 2024 Fire Prevention and Safety (FP&S) grant program. These funds help strengthen community fire prevention programs and support scientific research on innovations that improve firefighter safety, health and well-being. 

In 2024, there were approximately 4,200 home fire fatalities in the United States, including 61 firefighters. To help keep communities and firefighters safer, FEMA will award SAFER funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations to assist in increasing the number of firefighters to help communities meet industry minimum standards and attain 24-hour staffing, provide adequate fire protection from fire and fire-related hazards and fulfill traditional missions of fire departments.

The purpose of the FP&S grant program is to award grants directly to fire departments, national, regional, state, local, Tribal Nation and non-profit organizations such as academic (e.g., universities), research foundations, public safety institutes, public health, occupational health and injury prevention institutions for fire prevention programs and to support firefighter health and safety research and development such as clinical studies that address behavioral, social science and cultural research.

The application period for both the FY24 SAFER and FP&S programs will open at 9 a.m. ET on May 23, 2025, and close on July 3, 2025, at 5 p.m. ET.

Over the years, SAFER funds have had a big impact in communities around the nation. The Medway (Massachusetts) Fire Department received $741,443 in SAFER funds to hire four new firefighters. Chief Jeff Lynch said the award had measurable impacts on the department’s staffing levels and response times. For example, because of the presence of a firefighter hired using SAFER funds, the department was able to respond with extra personnel to a house fire on March 20, 2019. The firefighters rescued the family’s pet dog and stopped the fire in time to save their house and belongings.

The FP&S grant program has also made a difference for the fire service. The Cumberland Valley Volunteer Firefighters Association (CVVFA) advocates for all fire service in their region, which includes departments in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. The group has received more than $3.5 million in FP&S funding since 2016, spread out over eight awards. CVVFA used that funding to build ResponderSafety.com and the Responder Safety Learning Network (RSLN.org), their resources and programming. The grant funds have also supported nationwide outreach and education. Products include 48 online training modules on roadway incident response safety for firefighters; multiple training videos in topics like safe backing up of apparatus and high visibility; and public service announcements featuring emergency services personnel who survived being struck on the roadway and family members of responders who were struck and killed in the line-of-duty.

Since 2005, the SAFER program has awarded approximately $5.2 billion in grant funding and the FP&S grant program has awarded nearly $900 million since its inception in 2002. 

The FY 2024 SAFER and FP&S Notices of Funding opportunity and technical assistance documents for both programs are available at www.grants.gov and on the FEMA website here: SAFER and FP&S. Additional information about upcoming webinars to assist applicants is also available on the FEMA website.