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The City of LaFayette Fire and EMS was awarded a $347,619 Homeland Security Department grant to purchase a new fire truck. Chief James Doody said the city of LaFayette will have to provide approximately $17,000 as part of the grant terms.

He said purchasing a new truck is long overdue.

“We’ve been without a frontline engine — operable — probably since September of last year,” Doody said.

He said the process to obtain any federal grant is arduous, and JMCM Consulting played an integral role in securing the funding.

In a press release, U.S. Congressman Mike Rogers (R-AL) congratulated the City of LaFayette for receiving the grant.

“Chambers County’s first responders are our first line of defense,” Rogers said. “I congratulate the men and women of the City of LaFayette for receiving this grant and hope it will ultimately help increase the safety for all local citizens. I am pleased to see the federal government is continuing to make these types of investments in the Third District.”

Rogers said the grant should be awarded under the 2020 Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, an essential federal program that supports first responders across Alabama and the nation.

According to the Homeland Security Department, which administers the grant, the purpose of the program is to award funding directly to fire departments, nonaffiliated EMS organizations, and state fire training academies. These awards aim to enhance first responders’ ability to protect the health and safety of the public and that of first-responder personnel, with respect to fire-related hazards.

Doody said they have not decided on a chassis style, but based his research, commercial chassis are not available until late to middle of next year largely due to the pandemic.

LaFayette Fire and EMS was also recently awarded another grant to purchase extrication equipment.