Emergency responder organizations in Blair, Huntingdon and Mifflin counties will be receiving a total of more than $670,000 from Pennsylvania’s $25 million Volunteer Fire Company and Volunteer Ambulance Service state grant program, according to Rep. Larry O. Sather (R-Huntingdon), the prime sponsor of enabling legislation that authorized the funding.
State Fire Commissioner Edward Mann announced earlier last week that the Commonwealth will distribute $22 million in funding to volunteer fire departments and $3 million to volunteer Emergency Medical Service teams in all of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. That funding was authorized by Act 17 of 2003 (formerly House Bill 8 sponsored by Sather).
Grant recipients will use the money for the construction or renovation of a fire company facility, to purchase or repair firefighting or rescue equipment, to provide training or for related debt reduction.
“Pennsylvania\’s 2,500 volunteer emergency responder organizations need this support, and I believe we have an obligation to provide it,” Sather said. “The rising costs of equipment and declining membership among volunteers have put many fire and ambulance companies behind the eight-ball financially.
“And, in the wake of 9/11, local emergency responders, the first line of defense against terrorism, are facing the added pressures of heightened homeland security on top of their regular life-saving duties,” Sather added. “Now more than ever, it\’s imperative that our emergency responders be well-prepared and well-equipped.”
Nineteen volunteer fire companies in Huntingdon County will receive a total of $203,373.75 in grant funding, while six ambulance/EMS companies in that county will receive a total of $37,534.60.
Eighteen volunteer fire companies in Mifflin County will receive a total of $189,627.40, while three ambulance/EMS companies will receive a total of $18,907.53.
Seventeen volunteer fire companies in Blair County will receive a total of $180,301.86, while seven ambulance/EMS companies will receive a total of $44,117.57.
Sather noted that the $25 million state grant program has been reauthorized for the 2004-05 fiscal year.
“The allocations from this grant program will certainly provide a much-needed boost to our volunteer emergency responder organizations,” Sather said. “Ideally, we\’d like to make this grant program a permanent appropriation.”
Sather is a former fire chief of McConnellstown Volunteer Fire Company and a lifelong member of that organization. In the Legislature, he is a member of the House Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee, and serves as vice chairman of the Pennsylvania Legislative Firefighters and Emergency Services Caucus.
Sather also was appointed to serve on a bipartisan joint legislative commission whose mission is to develop more legislation that will assist emergency services in the Commonwealth. That commission was authorized by Senate Resolution 60.
$670,000 in state grant money awarded to emergency responders in Huntingdon, Blair, Mifflin counties
