Congressman Patrick McHenry today announced that Parkway Fire and Rescue of Spruce Pine, North Carolina will receive a $149,220 grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The grant was part of DHS’s 2004 Assistance to Firefighters grant program, which awards one-year grants directly to fire departments to support the nation's firefighters and the services they deliver.

For the 2004 program, Congress appropriated, and President Bush signed into law, $750 million in direct assistance to firefighters to improve the effectiveness of firefighting operations, firefighter health and safety programs, and to establish or expand fire prevention programs throughout the United States. The Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP) administers the program, in cooperation with the U.S. Fire Administration.

Secretary Tom Ridge today announced 230 grants to fire departments throughout the United States in the thirty-eighth round of the Fiscal Year 2004 Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. 24 of the grants came to North Carolina.