Groveland Fire Department was recently awarded $7,226 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to buy personal protective equipment and related disinfectant supplies and equipment to help prevent, prepare for and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The money is part of $560,726 in direct assistance grants to 39 volunteer and combination fire departments nationwide as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security—or CARES—Act Assistance to Firefighters Grant COVID-19 Supplemental.
By law, 25% of the available grants must be awarded to volunteer fire departments and another 25 percent must be awarded to combination fire departments. A volunteer fire department has an all-volunteer force of firefighting personnel, while a combination department has both paid and volunteer firefighters. Fire departments with paid, but on-call firefighters, are also in this category.