The U.S. Fire Administration will soon be distributing money collected by the U.S. Postal Service’s “Heroes of 2001” stamp to the survivors of firefighters killed and disabled on Sept. 11, 2001.

In his extensive report on current U.S. Fire Administration Activities to a summit meeting of fire service leaders held by the International Association of Fire Chiefs on Feb. 24 in Washington, D.C, U.S. Fire Administrator R. David Paulison noted that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has so far collected about $10 million from the Heroes stamp and expects to collect more in a final payment from the U.S. Postal Service.

The USFA staff has volunteered to help distribute the funds, because there is no funding for the activity under the USFA’s 2005 budget.

“The staff has rallied around it,” Paulison said. “They are going to take on this task of getting this funding out to the families. They feel this is taking care of their own. They’re going to get those dollars out as quickly as possible.”

The 45-cent Heroes of 2001 stamp was created by the USPS six months after the Sept. 11 attacks. It is a “semipostal” stamp, meaning that it’s valid to send through the U.S. postal system and the difference between the stamp’s price and the postage at the First Class first-ounce rate in effect at the time of purchase (currently 37 cents) goes to fund a charity. FEMA receives the difference, minus USPS reasonable costs.

The stamp features the now famous image taken by photographer Thomas E. Franklin of New York City firefighters raising the flag over Ground Zero on Sept. 11. It is only the second semipostal USPS stamp; the first was the Breast Cancer Research stamp, which has raised more than $24 million for breast cancer research.

Further details on how the USFA plans to distribute the stamp funds were unavailable as this report was posted. Check Firechief.com for updates or visit the U.S. Fire Administration online.