Friday, July 1, 2005

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County hopes Homeland Security will provide more firefighters

By JOHN THOMPSON
jthompson@TheCitizenNews.com

Coweta County had no idea that the federal Department of Homeland Security could be so helpful on a local level.

But County Administrator Theron Gay is hopeful the county will soon be a recipient of a federal grant to hire more firefighters for the county.

“The grant could help us hire 20 or 21 more firemen,” he said.

As Coweta County has rapidly grown, the county’s fire department has struggled to keep pace with the new subdivisions. The county has 15 stations that are currently manned by one officer per shift, so the grant could help add additional personnel to the shifts. The county currently employs just over 100 firefighters, and Gay said the grant would help fund the officers for four years.

“After then, we would have to pick up the funding, but anytime we can get help from the feds, we’ll take it,” he said.

Each grant is worth $100,000, so the county could receive more than $2 million in federal support if all the grants are granted.