Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10) announced a combined $277,447 in U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grants to local fire departments in the Tenth Congressional District.

The grants will go to the Claremont Fire Department and the City of Newton Fire Department in Catawba County, and come in the twelfth round of this year’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFG), which aims to help firefighters and first responders throughout the country. Local departments applied for the grants from the program which is administered by the Grant Programs Directorate of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in cooperation with the U.S. Fire Administration.  

Claremont’s grant is for $23,810. The department will use the grant to replace older turnout gear and other personal protective equipment.  

Newton’s grant totals $253,637. According to Newton Fire Chief Kevin Yoder, the grant will be used to purchase 45 self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) air packs to upgrade the department’s stock of breathing apparatus. Congressman McHenry visited the Newton Fire Department last year to see an SCBA refilling station purchased with the department’s last AFG grant.

“Claremont and Newton Fire Departments serve different areas of Catawba County and are both home to dedicated firefighters,” said Congressman McHenry. “It has been my pleasure to have visited both departments in recent years. These AFG grants will serve the needs not only of these departments, but of their communities for years to come.”

A panel of fire experts at DHS awards AFG grants through a competitive review process. Congressman McHenry hosts workshops for 10th District EMS and fire departments to help guide personnel through the process and give them an inside view of what the committee looks for. The workshops are taught by Cherryville Fire Chief Jeff Cash, a nationally recognized expert in his field and former member of DHS’s AFG review committee. Since Congressman McHenry and Chief Cash began the program, 10th District EMS and fire departments have consistently won more grants than departments in most of North Carolina’s other Congressional Districts.  

Claremont and Newton are two of five 10th District departments to receive AFG funding thus far during the 2015 cycle with a total of $573,521 in AFG funds having been awarded among those departments.

Grants will continue to be announced in weekly rounds throughout the coming months.