Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas Receive More Than $1.6 Million in FEMA Preparedness Grants

DENTON, Texas — Emergency management agencies in five states – Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas – have been awarded more than $1.6 million in preparedness grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

In Arkansas, the grants total $149,515 and cover:

• Stretchers, backboards and splints for the El Dorado Fire Department;
• Firefighting equipment for the Grubbs Volunteer Fire Department and the Oden-Pencil Bluff Volunteer Fire Department; and
• Generators, radios and other tools for the Maddox Bay Rural Fire Department in Holly Grove.

The grants in Louisiana total $509,022 and pay for firefighting equipment for the Forest Volunteer Fire Department in Oak Grove; the Elizabeth Volunteer Fire Department; the Des Allemands Volunteer Fire Department; the Bayou Boeuf Volunteer Fire Department in Thibodaux; the St. Landry Fire District #7 in Morrow and the Washington Parish Fire District #7.

In New Mexico, grants totaling $120,016 cover firefighting equipment for the Ohkay Owingeh Fire Department and the Newkirk Fire Department in Santa Rosa, and health screenings and physicals for the Santa Fe Fire Department.

The Oklahoma grants total $637,349 and pay for:

• A pumper/engine vehicle for the Madill Fire Department;
• A tanker vehicle for the Warner Volunteer Fire Department;
• Firefighting equipment for the city of Ada Fire Department;
• Communications equipment for the William Key Correctional Center Fire Department; and
• A training tower for the State Fire Training Academy at Oklahoma State University.

In Texas, the grants total $202,778 and pay for firefighting equipment for the Tennessee Colony Volunteer Fire Department, the Blossom Fire Department and the Balcones Heights Fire Department in San Antonio.

The federal grants are part of the Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) program. The primary goal of the AFG is to meet the firefighting and emergency response needs of fire departments and non-affiliated emergency medical service organizations. Since 2001, AFG has helped firefighters and other first responders get critically needed equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training and other resources needed to protect the public and emergency personnel from fire and related hazards.

For more information on the AFG program, visit http://www.fema.gov/assistance-firefighters-grant.

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