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NVFC Chairman Speaks at Briefing for Congressional Staff on AFG, SAFER, and FP&S Programs

Published Date: 07.28.2011

Briefing Highlights Need to Reauthorize Fire Grant Programs 

National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) Chairman Philip C. Stittleburg spoke at a briefing for Congressional staff on July 20 in Washington, DC, about the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG), Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER), and the Fire Prevention and Safety (FP&S) grant programs, along with representatives from other major fire service organizations. The briefing was hosted by Congressman Ralph Hall (R-TX), the Chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, which has primary jurisdiction over the grant programs in the House of Representatives.

“Significant and persistent needs remain, especially in small communities that are overwhelmingly protected by volunteer personnel,” Stittleburg told a group of approximately 40 Congressional staffers who attended the briefing. “In communities of 2,500 or less, the percentage of fire departments where all personnel are equipped with self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) has more than doubled since 2001, and yet 61 percent of departments still do not meet this standard. The number of fire departments in communities of 2,500 or less that cannot provide all of their personnel with personal protective equipment (PPE) has been reduced from 23 percent to 14 percent. We have come a long way but we still have a long way to go.”

The statistics cited by in the above paragraph by Chairman Stittleburg were taken from the recently-released National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) report, “Third Needs Assessment of the U.S. Fire Service,” which Dr. John Hall from NFPA spoke about at the briefing. The Needs Assessment study was requested by Congress and shows gaps between fire department preparedness levels and the levels recommended by national industry consensus standards. Comparing statistics from past Needs Assessments studies (the first was conducted in 2001, the year Congress first appropriated funding for AFG) with the most recent report, especially in areas like SCBA and PPE that have been targeted in grant criteria, demonstrates the role that the fire grant programs have played in improving the fire service preparedness levels.

Chairman Stittleburg’s presentation focused on how the AFG and SAFER programs help combination and volunteer fire departments address the significant challenges they face in equipping and training personnel as well as recruiting and retaining the next generation of volunteer firefighters. In addition to educating Congressional staff about the importance of AFG, SAFER, and FP&S, the briefing also served to highlight the need for passage of legislation reauthorizing these programs. The House passed reauthorization legislation in 2009 but it was never adopted by the Senate and expired at the end of last year. Since the 112th Congress took office in January, legislation that was introduced in the Senate has been approved by the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and awaits action by the full Senate. Just last month, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), the highest ranking Democrat on the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, introduced similar legislation in the House.

Reauthorizing AFG, SAFER, and FP&S is one of the NVFC’s top legislative priorities. Sign up to receive legislative alerts from the NVFC letting you know when important votes are taking place in Congress and allowing you to easily contact your elected representatives through our Capwiz service  to urge them to support the volunteer fire service.

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