Today, U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Congresswomen Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01) and Annie Kuster (NH-02) announced $2.1 million in Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. These grants include $700,566 to Londonderry, $735,612 to Windham and $642,964 to Hudson. SAFER grants strengthen communities’ ability to respond to fire and fire-related hazards, and this funding will allow Londonderry, Windham and Hudson to hire additional firefighters and maintain 24-hour fire department staffing to ensure adequate fire safety protection.

“These grants are about protecting the public and property, and I am very pleased to see them awarded to towns that are in need of additional resources,” said Shaheen, who helped secure this funding as a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “This funding will enable fire departments in Londonderry, Windham and Hudson to add additional firefighters and increase their capacity to serve these expanding communities. Our firefighters put their lives on the line to protect us every day and I will continue to advocate for resources to support them and enhance fire safety in New Hampshire.”

"Firefighters across New Hampshire go above and beyond to keep their fellow Granite Staters safe, including their work on the front lines of the deadly opioid crisis that continues to ravage our state,” said Hassan. “This federal funding will help support those efforts, providing fire departments in Londonderry, Windham, and Hudson with resources to better staff the Departments 24/7 and to continue carrying out their vital work to build a safer community and state."

“I have always supported SAFER Grants because they help local fire departments hire additional first responders and increase their ability to safely respond to fire and fire-related incidents,” said Shea-Porter, who wrote to DHS to request that it provide full and fair consideration to the Londonderry Fire Department’s SAFER Grant application and who has twice written to Congressional Appropriators urging increased funding for SAFER Grants. “The Londonderry Fire Department will use this critical funding to hire fulltime firefighters to address the nearly 27% increase in call volume and to improve services to the expanding industrial footprint in Londonderry. I am pleased that the Department of Homeland Security has given Londonderry the full and fair consideration I requested last May for their grant application.”

“Our firefighters do incredible work and put themselves at risk on a daily basis to keep our families and communities safe,” said Kuster, who pushed for robust funding for the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program. “Firefighters do so much for our state and are an indispensable partner in our efforts to take on the opioid epidemic. I’m proud to support funding for our local fire departments to ensure they have the staff and tools necessary to do their jobs.”

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