KANNAPOLIS — The Kannapolis Fire Department has received a 2012 Federal Emergency Management Agency Fire Prevention and Safety Grant award totaling $67,478, the city said in a news release.
According to FEMA’s website, Fire Prevention and Safety Grants are part of the Assistance to Firefighters Grants and support projects that enhance the safety of the public and firefighters from fire and related hazards. The primary goal is to reduce injury and prevent death among high-risk populations.
The grant awarded to Kannapolis Fire Department will be used to introduce two new educational campaigns: The Home Safety Survey Project and the Residential Knox Box Loaner Program. In addition to these two new programs, grant funds will also be used for the enhancement of the department’s current smoke alarm installation program.
This is the second year in a row that Kannapolis Fire Department has received such a large fire prevention-based grant from FEMA. In 2011, the department received a $90,835 Fire Prevention and Safety Grant for the purchase of the innovative BullEx fire prevention and safety trailer many call “a safety house.”
“Without grant opportunities such as this, the fire department would not be able to fund all of the educational programming we provide,” Fire Chief Ernie Hiers said in the news release. “The Kannapolis Fire Department would like to thank FEMA for the grant opportunity, for the generosity to Kannapolis Fire Department, and for its dedication to fire department prevention and education programs.”
Additional information will be shared with the community in the coming months about the programs supported by this recent FEMA grant, the news release said.