Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today announced $535,598 in federal funding for the Cortland Fire Department. These federal dollars will be used by the Cortland Fire Department to recruit additional first responders. The funding is allocated through the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program.
“This is a great investment for Cortland,” Senator Gillibrand said. “This federal investment will help improve the fire department’s ability to respond and keep families safe. I will continue working to ensure our first responders have the tools and resources they need to keep our communities safe.”
City of Cortland Fire Chief Charles Glover said, “Our goal is to attract potential candidates for volunteer recruitment and retention and these funds will help with this safe staffing initiative. These ‘bunkers’ will ride our apparatus to respond to alarms within our jurisdiction in order to more safely staff our apparatus and provide for more adequate on scene personnel to mitigate emergencies. The program also will enable us to hire a coordinator of the program for proper oversight and implementation.”
The SAFER program, established by DHS, is part of an effort to help fire departments across the country increase the number of firefighters in our communities, including re-hiring those that lost their jobs during the economic crisis. This program awards federal funding to fire departments to help them provide round-the-clock staffing to their communities from dangerous fire-related hazards.