The department that oversees Hanover County’s firefighters and medics was awarded more than $550,000 in federal money for training and recruitment.
Hanover Fire-EMS was awarded a $559,500 SAFER grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to recruit, train and retain 48 volunteer firefighters over the next four years. The grant arrives less than a year after a dwindling number of volunteers forced a fire squad in Hanover to disband.
The county’s fire chief, Jethro H. Piland III, said the grant will help the department replenish volunteers as they age or leave volunteerism behind for other reasons.
“This is just one way that we can relieve some of the financial burden not only for the department but for the (volunteers) themselves,” Piland said.
On Wednesday, the Hanover Board of Supervisors voted, as part of its consent agenda, to incorporate the grant money into its budget. The grant sets aside $165,000 for fiscal 2017 and then $131,500 annually through fiscal 2020.
In the past five years, about $2 million in grant money has been awarded to Hanover for recruiting volunteers, Piland said. The SAFER grant, which stands for Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, will enable Hanover to train 12 firefighters each year from 2017 to 2020. It also covers marketing, uniform and equipment costs.
Hanover, along with localities across the country, has endured a decline in volunteer firefighting in recent decades. The Rockville Volunteer Fire Company disbanded in January after the number of volunteers languished to four, prompting county supervisors to transfer contingency money to fund three firefighter medics to staff the remainder of the most recent fiscal year.
Piland said the department would have applied for the grant had the Rockville volunteer company remained, adding that it’s too early to specify whether the department will target any specific areas within the county for recruitment with the grant.
dtruong@timesdispatch.com
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