Tioga Fire District Awarded $43,838

 Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-New Hartford) announced last month that the Tioga Fire District in Tioga County has been awarded $43,838 in federal funds from the Department of Homeland Security's Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP), in cooperation with the U.S. Fire Administration. The funds will be used to purchase additional life-saving firefighting equipment.

 "This federal assistance will allow the Tioga Fire District to purchase additional life-saving firefighting equipment, as well as enhance firefighter health and safety programs," Boehlert said.  "I commend the Tioga Fire District for preparing a winning application for this beneficial grant and will continue to do everything I can at the federal level to support our firefighters."

 The Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFGP) awards one-year grants directly to fire departments to support the nation's firefighters and the services they deliver. For the 2004 program, Congress appropriated, and President Bush signed into law, $750 million in direct assistance to firefighters to improve the effectiveness of firefighting operations, firefighter health and safety programs, and to establish or expand fire prevention programs throughout the United States.   Last year, Boehlert's district received $4,448,136 in Assistance to Firefighters grants, almost tripling the $1,377,385 Congressman Boehlert's district received in 2002.