Today, Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10) announced $623,288 in a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant to three local fire departments in the Tenth Congressional District.

The grants will go to the Town of Maiden Fire Department, Oxford Fire Protection Association in Claremont and the St. Stephens Volunteer Fire Department in Conover and come in the third round of this year’s Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant awards. These grants assist local fire departments by enabling them to increase their staffing and deployment capabilities in order to respond to emergencies whenever they may occur.  Local departments applied for the grants from the program which is administered by the Grant Programs Directorate of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in cooperation with the U.S. Fire Administration. 

The Town of Maiden Fire Department was awarded a SAFER Grant of $199,034. According to Maiden Fire Chief Tracy Caldwell, the grant will fund two full-time firefighter positions and will allow each shift to now be manned by one full-time, career firefighter to supplement the department’s volunteers.

Oxford Fire Protection Association was awarded a SAFER Grant of $61,995. The department will use this grant to fund retention and recruitment programs for volunteer firefighters.

St. Stephens Fire Department was awarded a SAFER Grant of $362,659.20. “This grant will allow our department to add four full-time firefighters to our ranks," said St. Stephens Fire Chief Shawn Green.  "It will be a tremendous benefit to our department and our community."

“It is rare for one county to receive three SAFER grants in one round of awards,” said Congressman McHenry. “I applaud the three departments here in Catawba County and look forward to seeing how these funds will help these departments better serve their communities.”

Maiden, Oxford and St. Stephens are three of five Tenth District departments to receive SAFER funding in the FY 2018 grant cycle with a total of $1,862,469 in SAFER funds having been awarded among those departments.

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