Henry County is hiring 27 firefighters with the help of a $3,722,673 grant from the federal government. The Board of Commissioners voted March 6 to approve a resolution paving the way for the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant from the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The funds will be dispersed over the next three years. There is a requirement of matching funds from the county — 25 percent ($627,308.30) in the current fiscal year and the same percentage ($533,304) in FY2019. That total increases to 65 percent ($1,338,207) in FY2020, with the county absorbing all costs in the next year. This program will increase the Henry County Fire Department’s firefighter staff from 310 to 337, which officials said is closer to the national standard and the department’s goal of have three people on each truck, which hopefully will increase to four in the next 10 years.
The county worked with the federal government and was successful in removing a previous requirement regarding the acquisition of additional ambulances.
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