Keating, Kennedy Secure SAFER Grant For Fall River Firefighters

Press Release

Today, Congressmen Bill Keating and Joe Kennedy III announced that Fall River has been awarded over $2 million in a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER)Grant. This award comes after Congressmen Keating and Kennedy pushed the Department of Homeland Security over the past year for funding to enable Fall River to maintain a fully functioning Fire Department. The award was for $2,060,920, the full federal share requested.

"This grant will allow Fall River to hire firefighters necessary to keep the Department efficiently and effectively operating, keeping both communities and our firefighters safe." said Congressman Keating. "I want to thank Jay Burns, president of IAFF L-1314, and Fire Chief Viveiros, who were great allies to Congressman Kennedy and me during our fight for this funding, and also Mayor Sutter for initiating the request in the first place."

"This hard-fought SAFER grant will give Fall River firefighters the resources needed to keep our community safe, ensuring they have the equipment, staffing and funding their jobs require," said Congressman Kennedy. "Thanks to Jay Burns and Chief Viveiros, we were able to make a compelling case to Department of Homeland Security and look forward to working with them and Mayor Sutter to support Fall River's first responders moving forward."

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