Firemen’s Association Awarded Grant For Recruitment Efforts

The Firemen’s Association of the State of New York has been awarded a $1.5 million federal grant to recruit new volunteer firefighters.  

The four-year Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant is awarded by the Department of Homeland Security.

The funding will be used to create statewide outreach campaigns, awareness programs and recruitment and retention activities.

“Volunteer fire departments provide vital emergency response services throughout most of New York State. Unfortunately, with increasing call volumes and other challenges, we need more volunteers to staff those departments properly and effectively,” said Kenneth Pienkowski, President of the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York (FASNY). “This SAFER grant will greatly increase the existing efforts of the volunteer fire service to recruit and retain members. We are very grateful to all of our Federal elected officials for their help in securing this grant.”

There are nearly 1,800 volunteer fire departments in New York State, staffed by about 100,000 volunteer firefighters.