There undoubtedly are thousands of stories associated with the Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) program since Congress enacted the enabling legislation in January 2001. Some of these stories are contained in the excellent book written by Dr. Harry Carter in 2006 titled Living My Dream, which delved into the AFG awards and their impact at the local level.

This article, however, focuses on the untold story of a small group of people (see “The Trailblazers” on the next page) who were instrumental in bringing the words and intent of the aforementioned legislation to life. Through their expertise, dedication, diligence and hard work, they created and produced the original foundation of policy, process and procedures that are, for the most part, still in use today. Their initial efforts enabled thousands of fire departments and EMS organizations nationwide to receive critical assistance to better serve as America’s first response to natural and manmade emergencies. Because of their groundbreaking work, fire departments across the country continue to benefit from the AFG program today.

It should be noted that the ability to bring some of these people onboard so quickly was because the U.S. Fire Administration is one of the few federal agencies with the flexibility in its authorization language to utilize a classification of employee known as “excepted service,” which allows for temporary hiring without competition for the position. Here’s how it all came together.

The Beginning

On Jan. 2, 2001, I received a phone call, as the acting manager for the USFA’s National Fire Programs Division, from Ken Burris, who at the time was the acting U.S. fire administrator. He explained that Congress had passed a bill, which President Clinton had signed into law, which established a grant program for the fire service dubbed the “Assistance to Firefighters Grants.” He further explained that the NFPD would be responsible for the program’s implementation. The bill required that the USFA organize, conduct, and manage this grant program, which was funded at $100 million for FY 2001.

The program was unlike any federal grant program at the time. Among its stipulations were the following:

• Grants were required to be awarded directly to local fire departments.
• Grants to local fire departments were to be competitive among applying fire departments.
• Federal regulations, policies, application processes and instructions to the fire service all would need to be developed.
• Fire chiefs were authorized to sign the grant application, effectively certifying the application — with no other local, county, or state official signature required.

Of course, none of these considerations were clearly identified as we began to look closely at the legislative language to determine what we believed to be the intent of the language. After review and discussion with Burris, we agreed that several objectives would need to be identified, developed, and acted upon. We didn’t have much time. The primary reason is that the law required that the $100 million be awarded to local fire departments by the end of the federal fiscal year on Sept. 30, 2001. Congress had given the fire service a unique and deserving opportunity, and it was up to the USFA to ensure that’s exactly what occurred.

A Daunting Task

We only had nine months to deliver this grant, a challenge that was made more difficult by the fact that the AFG funds could not be rolled over into the next budget cycle. It quickly became apparent that more help would be needed staff wise, because the normal NFPD requirements made any significant increase in workload, such as that which this grant program would require, impossible given the staffing levels at the time.

It also seemed clear that any staff added for this project would need to have significant fire service experience, along with a good dose of strategic vision, to be able to help the USFA staff create this grant program, a daunting task. The development of the associated requirements, regulations, methodology, internal business process, project timeline, and model grant application process for fire departments to use were but a few of the many tasks required by the USFA. All of these aforementioned tasks and objectives would need to be developed in concert with the nine major fire service organizations.

It was imperative that the processes, guidelines and corollary information be completed no later than March 15. That time period was crucial because of the target dates that were established for the program. First, a notice of intent had to be published in the Federal Register for 30 days. Next, a minimum of 30 days was required for fire departments to apply in that first year for two separate AFG grants. Then, a minimum of 30 days was required for evaluating, scoring and ranking the thousands of grant applications that were anticipated. Finally, the money needed to be awarded in a timely manner, to ensure the disbursement of the entire $100 million that was authorized by the AFG legislation by the end of the fiscal year.

Most tenured and senior personnel in the USFA, as well as FEMA and other federal agencies, did not believe there was time enough to accomplish everything that needed to be done. There were numerous reasons for this belief, as follows:

• The legislation was passed one quarter of the way through the fiscal year.
• There was a change of administration in January 2001 and the Bush administration wanted to review all programs established in the late stages of the Clinton administration.
• The federal register process was seen as being too cumbersome to provide for rulemaking in a short period of time.
• The grants were competitive and had to be ranked against each other.
• There were too many stakeholders with diverse interests to agree on the particulars of the program.
• Expediency was not seen as a strong suit of the federal government.
• The publicly unstated goal of having geographic and population density — i.e., urban, suburban, and rural — requirements for dispersion of the grants.

In a meeting with Justice Department officials who managed numerous law-enforcement grants, Burris was advised that the USFA never would be able to accomplish a new grant program as large as the AFG program. What they did not know was how long the fire service had waited for this program, or how much they wanted and needed it.

A Key Decision

The USFA decided that if the grant program was to be successful and accepted by the American fire service, they needed to be involved in the process from the beginning, to discuss, vet and agree on the required policies, rules and procedures. This decision paid immediate dividends. A determination had been made to partially implement the program in the first year — there simply was not enough time to accept applications for each of the grant categories listed in the legislation. During the first meeting of the stakeholders, we attempted to get them to agree on six grant categories. It was a contentious meeting, during which each organization represented their interests. However, in the end each set aside their specific interests to do what was best for the success of the program and ultimately the success of the fire service. This was no small victory.

The original nine fire-service organizations include the CFSI, IAAI, IAFC, IAFF, ISFSI, NAFTD, NASFM, NFPA and NVFC. These organizations were asked to identify fire personnel from within their ranks, and from all over the country, who would voluntarily serve as application evaluators. This too had to be done quickly and decisively.

Clearly, there was a daunting amount of work to do in the first four months of the AFG program. While there were many, people involved in the process, both in the federal government and the fire service, the six people identified in the graphic that accompanies this article provided the cornerstone for this initiative and were integral to the AFG becoming a reality in the very tight timeframe that was established for the project in its first year.

The fire background of Ken Burris, Glenn Gaines, John Cook, Al Conners and Vicki Murphy was invaluable to the successful completion of this seemingly impossible undertaking. Burris and I were USFA employees. Gaines, Cook, and Conners were contract instructors for the National Fire Academy who agreed to temporarily suspend their work there and join the newly formed AFG team. Meanwhile, Murphy relocated temporally to Emmitsburg and staffed our first grant hotline. For his part, Brian Cowan brought extensive knowledge of the inner-workings of the federal government and how to make things happen, which was vitally important.

Without Burris’s excellent leadership and foresight, and this group’s knowledge and skills, the outcome of the first grant program would have been much different. For the fire service, these were the right people, in the right place, at the right time. I was honored to be a small part of it. The collective fire service has been the benefactor ever since.

Charlie Dickinson is the former chief of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire and the former deputy U.S. fire administrator.

Related Stories

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• 10 Tips for Winning a SAFER Grant

Sidebar: The Trailblazers

• Ken Burris: Acting U.S. fire administrator and chief operating officer; fire chief (retired), Marietta (Ga.) Fire Department; currently employed as COO of James Lee Witt Associates, a crisis and emergency management consulting firm headquartered in Washington, D.C.
• Vicki Murphy: Fire chief (retired), Seminole (Fla.) Fire Rescue; currently employed by FEMA
• Preparedness Grants and Training Directorate as Region 4 AFG specialist.
• Glenn Gaines: Fire chief (retired), Fairfax County (Va.) Fire Department; currently employed by USFA as acting U.S. fire administrator.
• John Cook: Fire chief (retired) Fauquier County (Va.) Fire Department; recently retired from the Dallas Fire Department as an assistant fire chief.
• Al Conners: Fire chief (retired), Grand Rapids (Mich.) Fire Department; was employed by USFA as a liaison/fire consultant for eight years; currently is working for Insurance Services Office, a property/casualty insurance risk consultancy headquartered in Jersey City, N.J.
• Brian Cowan: Program manager (retired) for the FEMA Preparedness Grants and Training Directorate’s AFG program.