Today, Congressman Patrick McHenry announced a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant of $39,045 to a local fire department in the Tenth Congressional District.

The grant will go to the Fall Creek Volunteer Fire Department in Avery County, and comes in the sixteenth 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, and the program is administered by the Department’s Preparedness Directorate’s Office of Grants and Training. 

This is Fall Creek VFD’s second straight year in receiving an AFG Grant.  Last November, Congressman McHenry visited Fall Creek VFD to present a check for last year’s AFG Grant.  “I was grateful for the opportunity to visit with the firefighters and their families at Fall Creek last year and am happy to see they were successful in earning a federal grant again this year.”

“With today’s tough economy, the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program is absolutely crucial, especially for volunteer departments,” stated Congressman McHenry.  “Barbeques and fundraisers simply aren’t sufficient to cover the costs of the advanced equipment necessary to protect our fire service personnel.  It has been my honor to work closely with fire, rescue and other emergency service providers to help them get the resources they need to protect our communities.”

Fall Creek VFD was one of two departments in the Tenth Congressional District to receive AFG funding in the sixteenth round of this year’s grant cycle. 

Last fiscal year, twenty-eight departments in the Tenth Congressional District received AFG funding for a total of $3,138,123 in funds disbursed.  Thus far in this year’s fiscal cycle, $743,690 has been awarded to thirteen departments in the Tenth District.

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