Grants & Funding
FEMA grants to fire departments: the funding breakdown
FEMA distributed $865 million to fire departments in its most recent grant year across three programs (AFG 47%, SAFER 48%, and Fire Prevention and Safety 5%), and growth in all three accelerated from low double digits to 16 to 27%. For volunteer departments, awards cluster into four categories, with award sizes ranging from a few hundred dollars to nearly $1 million per department.
Key takeaways
- FEMA's fire grant funding flows through three programs: Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG, 47% of the total), Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER, 48%), and Fire Prevention and Safety (FPS, 5%), $865 million in the most recent year.
- Excluding one-time COVID supplemental grants, all three grant types accelerated from low-double-digit growth to 16 to 27% growth.
- A state's rank in SAFER funding can differ sharply from its rank in AFG funding, the two programs don't move together.
- Grants to volunteer fire organizations fall into four categories: recruitment and retention, vehicle acquisition, operations and safety, and fire prevention.
- Award sizes vary enormously: twelve volunteer departments in West Virginia recently shared $3.8 million, two received close to $1 million each, while many departments receive $500 to $1,500.
Every year, FEMA sends grant money to fire departments, and the amounts have been climbing. Here's where the funding goes, how it breaks down between volunteer and career organizations, and the question every department should be asking about award sizes.
How much does FEMA send to fire departments, and through which programs?
In the most recent grant year, FEMA sent $865 million across three categories:
- Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG), 47% of total
- Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response program (SAFER), 48% of total
- Fire Prevention and Safety (FPS), 5% of total
Why did FEMA grants to fire departments increase?
Excluding one-time COVID supplemental grants, all three grant types went from growing at low double digits to growing by 16 to 27%.
The growth isn't uniform, either: there can be large differences between a state's rank on SAFER funding versus its rank on AFG funding. A state that does well in one program may lag in the other.
What do volunteer fire departments use FEMA grants for?
Grants given to volunteer fire organizations generally fall into four categories:
- Recruitment and retention
- Vehicle acquisition
- Operations and safety
- Fire prevention
Keep in mind that some grants are spread across dozens of departments.
Why are the gaps between grant sizes so large?
Looking across awards, we noticed incredibly large gaps between grant sizes.
Take one of the most recent large grants: twelve volunteer departments in West Virginia were awarded $3.8 million, most of it under operations and safety. Two of the twelve departments received close to $1 million each.
Meanwhile, many departments receive anywhere from $500 to $1,500.
What allows some departments to qualify for millions in federal aid while others receive a few hundred dollars? That's the question we keep putting to the departments we work with. Whatever the full answer, one thing is within every department's control: competitive applications are built on solid records: incident data, staffing numbers, training logs, and equipment inventories that demonstrate need and impact.
How can better records strengthen a grant application?
Grant programs reward departments that can back their story with data. A records management system that keeps incident reporting, personnel, and asset data in one place makes it far easier to pull the documentation an application demands, and to show results after the award.
Join the 1,000+ fire departments that trust Alpine Software's RedAlert platform to keep their records grant-ready. Book a demo.
Common questions
What FEMA grant programs are available to fire departments?
Three main programs: Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG), the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response program (SAFER), and Fire Prevention and Safety grants (FPS). In the most recent year, AFG made up 47% of FEMA's fire grant funding, SAFER 48%, and FPS 5%, $865 million in total.
How fast is FEMA fire grant funding growing?
Excluding one-time COVID supplemental grants, all three FEMA fire grant types went from growing at low double digits to growing 16 to 27% year over year.
What do volunteer fire departments typically use FEMA grants for?
Grants to volunteer fire organizations generally fall into four categories: recruitment and retention, vehicle acquisition, operations and safety, and fire prevention.
Why do some fire departments win much larger FEMA grants than others?
Award sizes vary dramatically, twelve volunteer departments in West Virginia were recently awarded $3.8 million (two received close to $1 million each), while many departments receive between $500 and $1,500. Strong, well-documented records are a foundation for competitive applications, since grant programs reward departments that can demonstrate need and impact with data.
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