The Altoona Fire Department is announced the department was awarded and has accepted a three-year grant in the amount of $587,560.32 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program.
![](https://715newsroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/altoona-wi-fire.jpg)
The most recent submission was Altoona’s second attempt at applying
for the FEMA SAFER grant. The FEMA SAFER grant will allow the Altoona Fire Department to hire two additional full-time Firefighter / EMS staff by covering the cost over a three-year period (2021, 2022, and 2023). The Altoona Fire Department plans to hire the new Firefighters by the start of 2021.
The FEMA SAFER grant is designed for communities like Altoona that are experiencing substantial growth as well as an increase in emergency call volume by helping to ensure an adequate response to those calls.