Every year, CFSI advocates for funding for a number of programs and agencies vital to the fire and emergency services.

Fire Service Appropriations Funding Levels

FY2024 Fire Service Appropriations Priorities

AFG/SAFER

• The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) and Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) programs are imperative to addressing the needs of more than one million fire and emergency services personnel, while providing an economic stimulus to American businesses.
• Every community relies on firefighters to respond to a variety of emergency situations, including structure fires, emergency medical services, hazardous materials response, technical rescues, and wildland/urban interface fires.
• Demand for fire and emergency services response has continued to grow. From 2010-2020, the number of fire department calls increased by 23% to more than 36.4 million calls.
• Both the AFG and SAFER grant programs improve the response capabilities in each of these emergency response areas and provide funding for crucial fire prevention and safety programs targeted toward high-risk populations.
• These two highly successful programs help ensure that our nation’s fire departments have the necessary training, equipment, and staffing to respond to tens of millions of emergency calls annually.
• In addition, the need is great. Cost for turnout gear and fire apparatus continue to increase while budgets stagnate.

ASK: Provide $405 million in funding for each of the vital grant programs to ensure fire departments have what they need to keep themselves and their communities safe.

U.S. Fire Administration

• USFA is the lead federal agency for the fire and emergency services, providing support and leadership in the areas of training, education, research, and data collection.
• Each year, USFA provides training to approximately 100,000 fire and emergency service personnel through the National Fire Academy (NFA).
• USFA also collects important data and conducts research to reduce the threat of fire and other dangers in local communities.
• Over the past decade, USFA’s budget has remained relatively stagnant and well below the authorized level of approximately $76.5 million per year through FY2023.

ASK: Support the President’s Budget Request of $60.331 million for the USFA base budget and $12.5 million for data management and IT upgrades in FY2024. This funding will ensure that USFA can continue its mission to support our nation’s fire and EMS personnel and work for a fire-safe America.

National Firefighter Registry

• Studies have indicated a strong link between firefighting and an increased risk of cancer. The National Firefighter Registry is an important resource to better understand this link.
• Previous studies have been limited by lack of availability of important data and relatively small sample sizes that have an underrepresentation of women, minorities, and volunteer firefighters.
• Over the past several years, the NFR has been able to make great strides, including developing an enrollment system to ensure information security and ease of access for users; obtaining the Office of Management and Budget’s approval for the enrollment questionnaire; and compiling brochures, videos, and quarterly newsletters to maintain communication with the fire service regarding the status of the registry.
• The registry has also faced new challenges due to evolving federal requirements for data security and storage – in addition to the steps that remain to continue the launch of the registry and keep its vital work moving forward.

ASK: Support $7.125 million for the National Firefighter Registry to ensure that the registry does not face delays with regard to the collection and analysis of data pertaining to cancer in the fire and emergency services.

Carbon Monoxide Grants

• Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is a proven threat to Americans across the country, claiming at least 430 lives annually.
• Approximately 50,000 people are sent to emergency rooms every year due to unintentional poisonings.
• Since CO is an odorless, tasteless, and colorless gas, many people are initially unaware they are even being poisoned. 
• Carbon monoxide poisoning can result in death, but it can also cause lifelong neurological and cardiac issues, in addition to other harmful, long-term health conditions.
• While anyone can be harmed by exposure to CO, it is especially dangerous for babies, children, elderly individuals, and individuals with preexisting chronic health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, anemia, and respiratory issues.
• Carbon monoxide alarms can prevent death and injury by alerting people to unsafe levels of CO in their homes.

ASK: Provide $5 million available until expended to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) for grants required by section 204 of the Nicholas and Zachary Burt Memorial Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act of 2022 (P.L. 117- 103). It is critical that this program is adequately funded to help mitigate the harmful—and even fatal —effects of CO poisoning. 

State/Volunteer Fire Assistance

• America’s forests and forest-dependent communities are at risk from outbreaks of pests and pathogens, persistent drought, and the buildup of hazardous fuels.
• Urbanization and development patterns are placing more homes and communities near fire-prone landscapes, leading to more destructive and costly wildland fires.
• The State Fire Assistance (SFA) and Volunteer Fire Assistance (VFA) programs help decrease total federal costs for emergency wildland fire suppression by bolstering local readiness and improving local response in the event of a fire.
• The programs also reduce the threat of fire to people, communities, and both public and private lands.

ASK: Provide $79 million for the State Fire Assistance Program and $22 million for the Volunteer Fire Assistance Program to fully and adequately fight fires and keep our homes and communities safe.

FEMA’s Urban Search & Rescue Response System

• Established in 1989, the US&R system is a framework to help organize federal, state, and local emergency response teams.
• The system has 28 task forces that can be sent by FEMA ahead of a disaster, or deployed after disaster strikes.
• As the nation’s only self-sufficient, all-hazards, ready-response force, the system is essential to our nation’s homeland security.
• Unfortunately, recent appropriations have only covered a portion of the necessary costs, leaving local governments responsible for filling the gap and, thus, impairing local public safety.

ASK: Provide $75 million for the national Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) system. The 28-team US&R system is nationally recognized for its ability to provide lifesaving assistance during major hurricanes, tornadoes, wildland fires, and other disasters.

Fire Sprinklers

• Today, you have less time than ever before to escape your home or high-rise apartment building in the event of a fire.
• Flashover can occur in mere minutes, causing the fire to spread rapidly throughout the home or building.
• Fire sprinklers can help to contain the fire where it begins, or even extinguish it entirely.
• In buildings with sprinkler systems the death rate per fire can be reduced by at least 87% and the property damage decreased by up to 68%.
• The risk of death to firefighters is nearly eliminated in a fully sprinklered structure and the injury rate is lowered by 67%.

Federally-Funded Housing

• In 1992, Congress passed the Federal Fire Safety Act, which required newly constructed multi-family housing units to have fire sprinklers.
• HUD estimates that there are approximately 570,000 multifamily public housing units still in the inventory that were constructed prior to the
  sprinkler requirement.
• Of those units, HUD notes that more than 180,000 still may be without fire sprinkler systems.

ASK: Provide $150 million for Housing Health Hazard Grants program to enhance fire and life safety in Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) properties.