County fire departments get fed funding

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Updated: April 4, 2012 1:50AM

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., announced Friday that three Lake County fire departments will receive Federal Emergency Management Agency funding.

The departments and amounts they will get are:

Countryside Fire Protection District, Vernon Hills, $549,529.

Long Grove Fire Protection District, Long Grove, $26,600.

Waukegan Fire Department, Waukegan, $71,600.

The funding is provided through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, a competitive program which seeks to strengthen the nation’s overall level of preparedness and ability to respond to fire and fire related hazards, Durbin said.

In the 2010 award year, Illinois received 132 awards which totaled over $14.8 million in federal funding to first-responder organizations for the purchase response equipment, personal protective equipment, training, and vehicles. In FY2011, the program will award approximately $380 million nationwide.

“Our nation’s firefighters are called upon day after day to protect America’s citizens,” Durbin said. “As these brave men and women put themselves in harm’s way, we must ensure that they are equipped with the best tools possible to do their jobs well, and today’s grants will help meet that goal.”