The East St. Louis Fire Department will soon be able to bolster their efforts and staffing with a federal grant, the Belleville News-Democrat reports.
The grant is from the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program, which, according to its website, was is intended "to enhance the local fire departments' abilities to comply with staffing, response and operational standards established by the NFPA and OSHA."
According to the News-Democrat, broken down by the numbers:
- The grant is in the amount of $3.3 million.
- The grant will allow East St. Louis to rehire 11 firefighters laid off last May...
- And hire 11 additional firefighters.
"We want to ... thank Sen. Durbin, FEMA and all other parties involved in securing these sorely needed funds," East St. Louis Fire Chief Jason Blackmon said in the News-Democrat. "Our citizens and business community deserve the very best in fire protection, and these funds allow us to continually move in that direction."