Fire Department applying for grants

Bella Vista Fire Chief Steve Sims said the department is applying for a SAFER grant to help pay for more personnel.

SAFER is the acronym for Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response.

"It's to add personnel to make things easier and better on us," Sims said, "and help us protect our citizens."

Sims said the grant provides partial funding to hire new personnel, and helps to cover their pay for three years. The first two years, he said, are at one rate, while the third is at a slightly reduced rate.

According to FEMAs website, the grant provides funding directly to fire departments to help either increase or maintain the number of trained firefighters available. The goal, according to the site, is to help departments comply with staffing, response and operational standards set by the National Fire Protection Association.

If the department can get the grant, Sims said, he hopes to hire an additional nine firefighters, who would be three for each shift.

He said it is a very competitive grant, and actually getting it could prove difficult. But the department doesn't lose anything by applying, he added.

FEMA began accepting applications for the SAFER grant Monday, Jan. 9, and the deadline to get them in was 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 10.

Sims said he was also planning to apply for a grant to replace several air tanks for the department.

General News on 01/11/2017