SNOWE AND COLLINS ANNOUNCE MORE THAN $40,000 FOR WASHINGTON FIRE DEPARTMENT

WASHINGTON, D.C. -– Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins announced today that the Town of Washington Fire Department will receive a $46,689 grant from the 2004 Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of Domestic Preparedness. The grant will help improve the Operations and Firefighter Safety Program of the Department.

"Our ability to address emergency situations more effectively creates a more secure environment for all citizens," said the Senators in a joint statement. "The improvement of training of domestic emergency services providers will benefit not only the security of local communities, but the entire nation in its time of need."

The Office for Domestic Preparedness awards one-year grants directly to fire departments to support the nation's firefighters and the services they provide. Congress appropriated, and President Bush signed in to law, $750 million in direct assistance for the 2004 program. Those Departments that received grants designated for "Operations and Firefighters Safety Programs" will use the funds to train firefighters in the use of equipment designed to respond to events that involve chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive devices.

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