Grant Will Be Used To Recruit Three New Positions in the Fire Department

 Media contacts: Stephanie Carroll, City of Auburn Hills; 248.364.6802; scarroll@auburnhills.org

Auburn Hills, MI-September 13, 2019 – The City of Auburn Hills Fire Department was notified by U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has officially awarded the department a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant in the amount of $718,551.00 to recruit three new firefighters. The SAFER Program is administered by the Department of Homeland Security’s FEMA with the purpose to ensure that fire departments nationwide are fully staffed and equipped to strengthen the Nation’s overall level of preparedness and ability to respond to fire and related hazards.

The grant application was awarded based on the need of shift commanders and their ability to assume exterior incident command positions versus interior working incident command positions.  “These three new positions will allow our fire department to run more smoothly with dedicated shift commanders who will assume exterior incident command responsibilities at emergency scenes enabling them to implement better strategic action planning and to oversee the safety of the scene, states Ellen Taylor, Auburn Hills Fire Chief. “ 

The City of Auburn Hills Fire Department currently respond to over 3700 emergency calls annually out of three fire stations with twenty-one full-time and twelve part-time/paid-on-call suppression firefighters.

“We extend our appreciation to Senator Stabenow and Senator Peters as well as other elected and appointed officials who had a hand in reviewing and approving our funding application, said Mayor Kevin McDaniel.  Our ability to modestly increase the number of full time firefighters at a level that will allow us to retain them after the grant funds discontinue is a strategic and responsible move by our administration and our citizens will be the long-term beneficiaries of that decision.”