Press Release

Congressman McHenry Announces $47,610 Homeland Security Grant to City of Conover Fire Department in Catawba County

U.S. Department of Homeland Security awards Assistance to Firefighter Grant funds to local department

Washington, September 2, 2022

Today, Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10) announced $47,610.52 in a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant to a local fire department in the Tenth Congressional District.

The grant will go to the City of Conover Fire Department in Catawba County and comes in the fifth round of the 2021 fiscal year Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFG), which aims to help firefighters and first responders throughout the country. Local departments apply 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. 

The grant funds will be used to purchase a Lucas chest compression device which delivers automated CPR to a cardiac arrest patient. Extrication tools for automobile collisions and other rescue operations will also be purchased. 

“Chief Mark Hinson and the Conover Fire Department have been leaders in the fire service in North Carolina and this is the latest in several grants they have earned,” said Congressman McHenry. “I know I join with Mayor Hayman and the entire team at the City of Conover in thanking the Conover FD for all they do and congratulating them on this latest grant.”

Chief Hinson thanked Congressman McHenry for his support of the fire service, “This grant will be used to purchase life-saving equipment and we greatly appreciate Congressman McHenry’s steadfast support of the AFG program. We look forward to seeing him at the fire department again soon.”

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 Tenth District fire service professionals.  

The City of Conover is one of five Tenth District departments to receive AFG funding thus far during the 2021 cycle with a total of $1,266,089 in AFG funds having been awarded among those departments.

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