Providence, Cranston to receive $17.8M for firefighter positions

U.S. SEN. JACK F. REED, center, said that Providence received the largest federal award of any city in the nation this year from the SAFER program, a total of $15 million that will allow the city to hire 80 firefighters and will cover their costs for two years. / BLOOMBERG NEWS FILE PHOTO/ANDREW HARRER
U.S. SEN. JACK F. REED, center, said that Providence received the largest federal award of any city in the nation this year from the SAFER program, a total of $15 million that will allow the city to hire 80 firefighters and will cover their costs for two years. / BLOOMBERG NEWS FILE PHOTO/ANDREW HARRER

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island is being granted $17.8 million in federal funding to help Providence and Cranston hire and train new firefighters, the state’s congressional delegation announced Wednesday.

The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant program is providing direct federal assistance to fill 95 firefighter positions that were lost due to normal attrition in the Providence and Cranston fire departments.

“Our firefighters do a terrific job and this federal staffing grant will help hire more frontline firefighters and enhance public safety while easing budget constraints,” said U.S. Sen. Jack F. Reed, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee who leads an annual fire grant workshop to help fire departments across the state apply for similar competitive federal assistance, in prepared remarks. “I commend both [Providence] Mayor [Jorge O.] Elorza and [Cranston] Mayor [Allan W.] Fung and their teams for successfully competing for these grants. I … am pleased that Providence is receiving the largest SAFER award being made nationwide this year.”

Providence is set to receive $15,011,440, which will be used to train and hire 80 firefighters, as well as support the upcoming fire academy.

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The remaining $2,765,310 will go to Cranston, where it will be used to fund 15 firefighter positions.

Due to the high number of calls that it responds to, averaging 15,000 a year, the Cranston Firefighter Department was awarded $119,000 in federal grants last month in order to purchase new cardiac equipment.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency in cooperation with the U.S. Fire Administration is responsible for administering SAFER. The federal grants cover the cost of these new hires for the next two years.

Rhode Island fire departments and other first responders have won more than $30 million in federal SAFER awards since 2005.

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