Maryland’s Congressional delegation announced over $6.9 million in federal funding to support firefighters and first responders across Maryland, with the largest allocations going to Baltimore City and Baltimore County.
U.S. Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks and U.S. Reps. Steny Hoyer, Andy Harris, Kweisi Mfume, Jamie Raskin, Glenn Ivey, Sarah Elfreth, April McClain Delaney, and Johnny Olszewski jointly informed Maryland residents of the $6,966,579 in funding in a press release on Thursday.
The money will allow firefighters and emergency responders to improve with more hiring, training, and purchase of critical emergency equipment.
“We can always count on Maryland’s firefighters and first responders to run towards danger to save others in an emergency,” the lawmakers wrote. “This federal funding will equip our local fire departments with new resources to support them in their life-saving work, to better protect both themselves and our communities.”
The Baltimore City Fire Department (BCFD) will receive more than $2.6 million for critical gear and equipment, including cardiac monitors, CPR devices, portable radios, and gear washers and dryers. The funds will also be used to provide training in trench rescue and hazardous materials response.
The Baltimore County Fire Department will receive over $1.2 million to provide training in trench rescue and hazardous materials response.
The announcement is especially timely, given the two recent fires that tore through iconic buildings in the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore City. Also, this week BCFD fire crews, including their dive team, pulled an elderly man out of the Inner Harbor. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The fire at Falkenhan’s Hardware store on Monday was caused by an electrical accident, as was the fire that happened in November at a nearby historical building called The Castle.
In June, WMAR 2 News reported that the Baltimore Fire Department emergency response was downgrading four of their Advanced Life Support Unites to Basic Life Support Units, reflecting staffing shortages in the city. These shortages are not unique to Baltimore, but at the time of the WMAR report, there were 40 paramedic and 20 EMT vacancies within the department.
The remaining federal funds will be distributed among Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, the Eastern Shore, Western Maryland, Southern Maryland, and to Maryland State Police. In each case, the money is specifically allocated for purchasing life-saving gear, equipment, and/or training of first responders in those areas.
Maryland’s Congressional delegation secured the funds to provide these awards, which are provided through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG), the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER), and the Fire Prevention and Safety Grant (FP&S) programs. The delegation also helped reauthorize the AFG, SAFER, and FP&S programs through FY2028 within the Fire Grants and Safety Act of 2023, which passed Congress and was signed into law in 2024.
