Today, Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10) announced $989,020 in a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant to fire departments in Cleveland County. The grant was applied for by the Waco Volunteer Fire Department on behalf of all 16 departments in Cleveland County and comes in the sixth round of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFG), which aims to help firefighters and first responders throughout the country. This is the largest single AFG grant ever awarded in North Carolina.

The grant will be used to upgrade each department’s communications equipment to accommodate the county’s recent conversion to 800 megahertz communications. “This is certainly great news for Cleveland County,” said Congressman McHenry. “This regional grant will help every fire department in the county and represents a tremendous collaborative effort. Everyone involved should be commended for their hard work, especially Waco Fire Chief Kevin Gordon who took the lead in preparing the application and following it through the awards process.”

“The citizens of Cleveland County are the ones who will ultimately benefit from this grant,” commented Cleveland County Manager David Dear. “These funds will have a positive and direct impact on the ability of our fire departments to respond and coordinate whenever they are called upon. We certainly appreciate Congressman McHenry’s assistance throughout the grant process.”

Cleveland County has an excellent history with the AFG program. During the 2005 awards cycle, the county had six departments to receive an AFG grant, more than any other county in the Tenth Congressional District. Thus far in the 2006 awards cycle, nine fire departments in the Tenth District have received AFG grants for a total of $1,542,730. This year’s awards will continue to be announced in rounds through the end of December.