FEINGOLD ANNOUNCES ASSISTANCE TO FIREFIGHTERS GRANTS FOR WAUKESHA COUNTY DEPARTMENTS February 14, 2008 U.S. Senator Russ Feingold announced today that two Waukesha County departments received 2007 Assistance to Firefighters Grants. The North Lake Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. received a grant of $39,121, and the Village of Sussex Fire Department received a grant of $95,570. These grants are provided by the United States Fire Administration (USFA), which is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP), to purchase firefighting vehicles including pumpers, brush trucks, tankers, rescue, and ambulances. “This grant program has been an unqualified success in getting much-needed resources directly to local first responders,” Feingold said. “I have been and continue to be a strong supporter of this program, in no small measure because of the advocacy of Wisconsin first responders. The members of both volunteer and career departments put their lives on the line on a daily basis for others and at virtually every meeting I have with Wisconsin first responders, they tell me about the vital importance of these grants and how these grants allow them to get needed equipment and training they would otherwise be unable to afford.” Wisconsin communities have sent 746 applications to USFA, requesting a total amount of more than $103 million. In July 2007, Senator Feingold sent a letter pressing the ODP to strongly consider all Assistance to Firefighter Grant applications from communities across Wisconsin. ODP serves the American public and the nation’s fire services through training, data collection and analysis, public fire education, and fire protection technology research. This grant program is designed as an opportunity for the U.S. Congress to work with ODP to support firefighting departments across the country.

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