Alabama Leads Country in Assistance to Firefighters Grants

This year, Alabama has received the most firefighting grant money -- for trucks, gear and even uniforms -- from the Homeland Security Department. In fact, Alabama has been given more than double what Georgia has received, even though Georgia has twice as many people. So why does a small Southern state get such a large piece of the federal pie? Apparently, because it asks. The $600 million Assistance to Firefighters Grant program, the nation's largest firefighting grant initiative, provides money to states based largely on how many grant applications they submit rather than on population or risk-based factors. Alabama departments, for example, were awarded $21.7 million in grants in 2005, or $4.76 per person. Georgia received $10.4 million, or $1.15 per person. Alabama departments, however, submitted 677 applications compared with 342 from Georgia. Homeland Security officials say the firefighting grants, as designed by Congress, were established before the September Eleventh, 2001, attacks and are aimed at building basic capabilities at local departments across the country. They say the applications are scored by industry peers, and grants are awarded largely based on those reviews.