GFPD gets grant for manpower
The Godfrey Fire Protection District received an award of $429,603 from the federal SAFER program to increase its number of frontline firefighters.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., announced Thursday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, gave the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant to the GFPD for recruitment initiatives in order to increase the number of full-time firefighters.
"It would give us an additional firefighter on each of our three shifts, and that would be a complement of six full-time firefighters per shift, plus we'll have one vacation breaker, who fills in when someone is on vacation," GFPD Fire Chief John Sowders said.
The grant will cover the full cost of hiring three additional firefighters for two years, bringing the entire department up to 21 full-time firefighters, including the chief and deputy chief, Steve Kasten, who was instrumental in writing the SAFER grant, Sowders said. The department has 18 paid-on-call firefighters at this time.
"This is really fantastic," Sowders said. "It has been a priority of this department for years to increase staffing so we never find ourselves in a position with one firefighter by himself on a call."
The department increased its size by two full-time firefighters in the last three years.
"Now with the additional full-time positions, it will guarantee that we never will respond with less than two on a truck, and most times three and four on a truck," Sowders said. "We're very excited about it. It's certainly my highest priority since I've been here."
More manpower also has been the highest priority for Godfrey Firefighters Local 1692, part of the International Association of Firefighters union, for years.
"The union as a whole is ecstatic," said GFPD Capt. Ed McBride, also president of Local 1692. "We're happy the manpower is going up; it was a matter of money. This makes our job safer and protects the people of the village."
The SAFER program seeks to enhance a department's ability to maintain 24-hour staffing and ensures that the community has adequate protection from fire and fire-related hazards. In the 2009 award year, Illinois received eight awards totaling more than $2.4 million in federal funding to hire and recruit additional firefighters.
"Our nation's firefighters are called upon day after day to protect America's citizens," Durbin said. "As these brave men and women put themselves in harm's way, we must ensure that they are equipped with the best resources possible to do their jobs well and that fire departments have enough trained firefighters."