Romulus will receive $1,548,799 to fund the six new firefighters on the department. This is the second such grant awarded to the community, according to Romulus Director of Community Safety and Development Kevin Krause.
“The Romulus Fire Department is honored to again be selected to receive a FEMA SAFER Grant in 2022,” Krause said in a prepared statement. “Previously, the department leveraged its SAFER grant to increase safety performance and enhance services by re-opening a second station in Romulus' Hotel District to reduce response times to an area of the city where most of the travel industry support businesses are located.
“In 2021, our firefighters began offering Advanced Life Support services also as a result of the SAFER Grant. These accomplishments are part of the departmental goal to become and Accredited Agency with the Center for Public Safety Excellence; to be recognized as a community-focused, strategic-minded department that is properly equipped, trained and staffed,” he added.
The grant award was announced last week by U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters.
“Thank you to our legislators who believe in our mission and fight for us to get these much needed funds for the safety of our residents and others who work and play in Romulus,” Krause said.
Romulus Mayor Robert McCraight was also pleased with the grant announcement, particularly in light of the rapid development growth in the city.
“The City of Romulus is thankful to be chosen as a 2022 SAFER Recipient. The rate of residential and commercial development in the City of Romulus, creates challenges to meet the current and future emergency first response needs of the community,” McCraight said.
“The funding for an additional six firefighters will afford our administration the opportunity to proceed with plans to enhance response times across the city and support the efforts of our dedicated men and women of the Romulus Fire Department. We are eager to once again partner with FEMA in utilizing this award to permanently grow our response capabilities and thank our representatives in Washington and in Lansing for their continued support of our efforts,” said McCraight.
The City of Dearborn was also awarded funding for the hiring of 12 firefighters in that community.
“Our firefighters put their lives on the line to protect our families, homes, and communities,” said Stabenow.
“These new resources will help the Dearborn and Romulus Fire Departments make sure there is always someone there to answer the call in an emergency.”
“It's important that our fire departments have the resources to maintain and hire personnel to continue serving their communities effectively,” said Peters, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “I'm pleased to welcome this federal grant that will enable fire departments in Dearborn and Romulus to hire additional firefighters to support their operations.”
More information about these grants can be found at: https://www.fema.gov/ grants/preparedness/firefighters/safer#awards.
