Fire Department receives grant

The Vestavia Hills Fire Department (VHFD) was recently awarded a $160,740 grant by the Department of Homeland Security through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. The department's application competed against thousands through a peer review process for a portion of federal funding.

The grant will be used for equipment designed specifically for wild land firefighting. The VHFD responded to numerous wild land incidents in 2014 which challenged the department's capabilities and showed the need for improvement. This equipment, combined with additional training which has already been conducted, will better prepare VHFD to serve our community.

Funds awarded under the AFG program are used to meet the firefighting and emergency response needs of fire departments and nonaffiliated emergency medical services organizations. Only the applications most closely conforming to program priorities are considered and scored by peer review panels.

The department is grateful to Congressman Gary Palmer, Congressman Spencer Bachus and their staffs for their assistance in the award.