2015 AFG Resource Guide:

Your Definitive Guide to Grant Success

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Editor’s Note Contents
GETTING STARTED

Getting ready for 2 Must-Haves and Key Questions

AFG 2015
4 Assistance to Firefighters Grant ‘Get Ready’
Checklist

BY JERRY BRANT
NARRATIVE GUIDES & EXAMPLES

W
hen I joined the fire service 46 years ago, equipping a 6 Critical Infrastructure Narrative
firefighter from head to toe with helmet, coat, boots
7 Training Narrative
and gloves to respond to alarms cost about $200.
SCBA was a luxury, and if your department had any it was stored 8 Community and Organization Narrative
inside a case in a compartment somewhere.
A new custom engine ran about $25,000 and a new aerial was 9 Financial Need Narrative
approximately $100,000. The complexity of alarms we responded
to in those days were completely different from the calls handled AFG PROJECT GUIDES
by today’s firefighters.
Now, personal protective equipment is probably the most 12 PPE Projects
important component of the fire service, and a new engine is
the most expensive investment a department makes. You can 14 Training Projects
pretty much add a zero to the end of those 1969 prices to buy the
16 Modification to Facilities Projects
modern equivalent.
With department budgets stretched thin, fire chiefs are 18 Wellness and Fitness Projects
constantly searching for other sources to fund their equipment
needs. As a result, competition for funding from programs like 20 Equipment: Communications Projects
the Assistance to Firefighter Grant is intense. With this guide,
22 Micro Grants
we will provide you with some suggestions on how to make your
grant application more viable. 23 New Vehicle Projects
This guide explores all elements of the AFG application and
provides you with suggestions to answer your questions in the 25 Regional Projects
Characteristics and Request Details sections and to bring your
narrative in line with AFG’s priorities. We also look at each
eligible AFG activity and provide you with essential information
on these topics.
In addition, under each activity we have a mayday section.
Just as a mayday call gets everyone’s attention on the fireground, Premium Sponsor:
we have identified particular information inside each AFG
category that is critical to your application and needs your utmost
attention. ■

2015 AFG Resource Guide 1

 GETTING STARTED
Must-Haves and Key Questions
The foundation for a successful grant application begins by
reading the program guidelines. In layman’s terms, these are
the instructions for the grant process. FEMA now calls this
document the Funding Opportunity Announcement, or FOA.
This document provides all of the information concerning
grant eligibility, program priorities, filing deadlines and appli-
cation assistance.
The next step is to determine your eligibility. Answering these
four questions will determine how and if can you proceed.
1. Is your organization eligible to apply for the grant?
2. Is your project eligible for funding under the guidelines?
3. Is the amount of funding that you need within the limits
of the grant?
4. Are you authorized by your organization to file this
application?
If you are ready to move forward with an application, you
need to understand the different types of funding components
within AFG and your eligibility to apply under them. Fire de-
partments and nonaffiliated EMS organizations may apply for
each, any or all of the five Operations and Safety component
activities (training, equipment, personal protective equip-
ment, wellness and fitness, and modification to facilities).
You can also apply under the vehicle component, and act as a
regional host for an application.
Regional applicants may only apply for training, equipment,
PPE and vehicles.
The next activity is to conduct a risk assessment of your ser-
2 2015 AFG Resource Guide
vice area and department. This assessment will be the basis of
your grant application, showing trends your department has
experienced over the past three to five years. To initiate your
assessment, you will need to develop a demographic profile of
your coverage area and your department.
To start your profile, access the U. S. Census data at
Census.gov. For every community in your first-due area you
should know at minimum these five items.
• Population.
• Median household income.
• Per capita income.
• Poverty rates.
• Single-family home value.
Next, develop a list of critical infrastructure in your first-
due area. This should include these types of places.
• Schools, large day care facilities, medical facilities and
senior-living complexes.
• Chemical storage or manufacturing facilities.
• Public utilities and communication sites.
• Transportation infrastructure.
• Large commercial and industrial sites.
The next segment of the planning process involves an as-
sessment of your department’s equipment, PPE and apparatus.
Begin by examining your department’s fire reports for the past
year. At a minimum, look at the number and type of alarms
you had, as well as any special circumstances that occurred.
Compare this data to the past three to five years of alarms.
Then examine your current inventory of equipment, PPE
and apparatus. Do they meet current standards? Have mainte-
nance and repair costs negatively impacted your budget? Are
they posing a safety hazard to your firefighters or the commu-
nity?
All of this data should give you a picture of your communi-
ty and the factors that are impacting your delivery of services
to your coverage area. This data will be extremely useful as
you develop your application narratives.
Before you can begin the actual AFG narrative, your organi-
zation must have a current, active DUNS number and must be
registered with SAM — the System for Award Management.
Registration in SAM is free.
Per federal regulations, FEMA will not process any pay-
ment request or consider any amendment until the grantee
has complied with the requirements to provide a valid DUNS
number and an active SAM registration with current informa-
tion. All applicant information in SAM, DUNS and the FEMA
profile must match. That includes addresses, phone numbers,
and email addresses.
Also, mark the SAM profile as public. If your profile is
private, FEMA grants management specialists will not be able
to verify your active SAM registration. Sensitive banking and
financial data are not revealed in the public profile.
The AFG application consists of a series of questions and
narratives. In the past, the narratives were all contained in one
section of the application. Four years ago FEMA revamped the
AFG application format and several of the narrative sections
are now found interspersed within the application questions.
If you have not filed an AFG application in recent years,
be prepared for the amount of information that you will be
requested to provide. Since you cannot access a 2015 AFG
application until the grant opens, go to the AFG website and
review the Get Ready Guides that FEMA has prepared. Inside
this material are questions similar to the ones in the AFG
application. This will allow you to gather the information
you will need from your department to ease your application
preparation.
You will notice that AFG has specific questions about your
department, the area you cover, the alarms you answer, your
financial situation and the apparatus you use. These are bro-
ken out into Applicant Information, and Applicant Character-
istics sections.
Once you have completed these sections and entered a
project, you will encounter the Request Details section. This
section asks specific questions about the project you are
requesting and the cost involved. As you input cost estimates
for your project into the Request Details section, the applica-
tion is transferring this financial data into the Budget section
of your application. If the amounts do not agree, return to the
Request Detail section to make adjustments. Also included in
the Request Details sections are narratives pertaining to the
specific project you are requesting. ■
2015 AFG Resource Guide 3
 GETTING STARTED

Assistance to Firefighters Grant

‘Get Ready’ Checklist
In order to help volunteer and combination agencies get a head start on their AFG applications for FY 2015, the National Volun-
teer Fire Council and FireGrantsHelp.com have compiled a checklist of items that departments should be pulling together now
in advance of the application period opening this fall.

✔✔ Access your department’s NFIRS data for the past three years if possible.

✔✔ Analyze this data to determine if there are trends emerging.

✔✔ Identify staffing challenges in your department and surrounding departments that you provide mutual aid to.

✔✔ Compile a demographic profile of your service area to include income and population statistics.

✔✔ Determine what your department needs are and if these needs are eligible for AFG funding. Secure a good cost estimate
and make sure your department has sufficient funds to cover the AFG match.

✔✔ Review your department’s budget, identify all sources of income and detail expenses.

✔✔ Know your SAM.gov registration information and DUNS number. If you have trouble with either of these, seek help
before the application period opens. Make sure that the information contained in SAM and DUNS match each other and
the same as the information contained in your FEMA profile.

✔✔ Save all of this information in one place so you can access it and update it easily. Back this information up on a thumb
drive in case you work on the grant application on different computers or the original computer malfunctions.

Ask for Help!

There are plenty of resources to help answer questions. Here are three of the better ones.

• Contact the AFG Program Help Desk with questions or comments by calling
1-866-274-0960 or email at firegrants@dhs.gov

• Register for free at FireGrantsHelp.com and learn about the various resources
on offer.

• Submit a grant assistance request to the National Volunteer Fire Council and get
linked to one of the NVFC’s peer reviewers.

4 2015 AFG Resource Guide

NARRATIVE GUIDES & EXAMPLES
Every AFG application will require you to complete four narratives
under the Department Characteristics sections. These include
critical infrastructure, training, description of community and
organization, and financial need. There may be other specific
narratives needed depending on your answers to certain
questions inside the Department Characteristics section. To get
started, we’ll examine the four standard narratives needed under
this section of your AFG application.

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2015 AFG Resource Guide 5

 Critical Infrastructure Narrative
The first narrative you will encounter in your AFG application
is one that follows the question:
“Does your department protect critical infrastructure? If you
answer yes, please list the critical infrastructure.”
This question has replaced the old question that asked if you
protected critical infrastructure of the state. Applicants had
been interpreting this question too literally and answering
“no” because they didn’t have a state-owned building in their
coverage area.
The previous list of critical infrastructure types is only
partial. Think of sites in your coverage area that would strain
your response capabilities if they were the site of an alarm.
Another easy way to compile your critical infrastructure is to
list the location, facility or event where you have done pre-in-
cident planning. List those places that you always sit around
the station and say, “Boy, if anything ever happens at _____
we would be there all day.” List those places that the fire chief
always thinks, “If we ever have an alarm at that place, I hope
I’m on vacation.”
You get the idea. And yes, I listed the term “event” because
critical infrastructure doesn’t have to be a building or loca-
tion. Many departments provide services to festivals, sporting
events, concerts and other similar activities that attract tens
of thousands of visitors to their area. If anything would ever
happen at one of these, it would certainly strain the response
capabilities of the department. ■

6 2015 AFG Resource Guide

Training Narrative
The next narrative follows a set of questions that ask what quarter of this year. However, even if they are able to complete
percentage of your firefighters are certified to NFPA 1001 the prep class, the certification tests are only held twice a year
Firefighter I and II. If your answer is less than 100 percent to in our area. Those dates are in the spring and summer. The next
Firefighter II, you must provide details about your training closest testing site is 125 miles away, so our firefighters will not
and plans to achieve that goal. be able to test until next year.”
Many applicants have paid little attention to this narrative In a few sentences you were able to detail your plans for
and gave one-line answers like, “We will never meet this stan- firefighter certification and explain the difficulties you are
dard” or “We will be at that goal in five years.” They have done encountering in scheduling a testing date. ■
this because there is no scoring value attached to this section.
Yes, that is correct, FEMA has not assigned a score to this
narrative, but in essence they have.
Imagine if you are sitting on a peer-review panel and a
department is asking for $350,000 for a new engine and they
have few firefighters certified to Firefighter I or II and a vague
one-line answer to the training question. Would you score
their overall application high? I doubt it. Your answer also
doesn’t have to be a Pulitzer-winning response. Simply de-
scribe how many firefighters you have and how many earned
Firefighter I and II. Then, state what your plans are to increase
your compliance with NFPA 1001. It can be a response like:
“We have six firefighters attending the academy and they will
test out this April. This will bring us to 80 percent compliance.
Our other 20 percent are having difficulty scheduling prep
classes to take the test because of their employment. We are at-
tempting to schedule these classes in our station during the third

2015 AFG Resource Guide 7

 Photo: Michael Rieger/FEMA
Community and Organization Narrative
You are on vacation 500 miles away from home and the the three people on the grant review panel know absolutely
person in front of you in the hotel check-in line is wearing a nothing about your department, just like the guy at the check-
T-shirt that says, “Station 1 First due at the Courthouse.” You in line. You need to do the same thing when you write your
tap him on the shoulder and tell him you are a volunteer. Then community and organization narrative to AFG.
the two of you have a conversation about your coverage area, Here are 10 narrative items to answer.
how many calls you have, the apparatus you have, the prob-
• Where is the department located?
lems you have in your coverage area and similar stories. Most
• Describe the geography and topography of the coverage
of us do this every time we see another firefighter and we have
area.
the time to chat.
• How large is the coverage area?
Fast forward to the opening of the AFG grant period. You
• How many stations does the department have?
are sitting at your computer and you are asked to describe
• What apparatus does it have?
your organization and the community you serve. Your mind
• What is the department’s annual call volume?
goes blank and you struggle to get a few sentences down. You
• What type of services does it provide?
wonder exactly what do they want here and why they are they
• Are there any special types of infrastructure that you
asking you this.
protect?
To make things easier, imagine that the three people on the
• What has been happening to your coverage area? This
review panel are sitting in front of you and they just said, “Hey
can include growing population, new developments and
are you a firefighter at station 1? What kind of apparatus do
construction, declining population, vacant buildings and
you have? How many calls do you run? How many structure
a large number of foreclosures.
fires do you have? Wow, that’s a large number. How big is your
• Are the number of alarms increasing, especially struc-
coverage area? Does your station have any special training?”
ture fires?
The conversation could go on and on.
Why is it easy for us to talk about our department to the This list could go on, but it should give you some idea of the
guy in the check-in line but we freeze up when we have to type of information needed to give the reviewer an accurate
put similar information into our grant application? You see, picture of your coverage area. ■

8 2015 AFG Resource Guide

Financial Need Narrative
An AFG application that makes it through technical review is profile that you should have for each community in your first-
then evaluated by a team of three peer reviewers. The max- due coverage area is critical in painting a picture of the local
imum score an application can receive in peer review is 100 economic and social landscape for the funding agency. At a
points. The financial need narrative located in the application’s minimum, examine such data as the per capita income for
Department Characteristics section is the first narrative that the community, the poverty rates and the median household
is counted in the peer-review scoring. FEMA will tell you that income.
typically the financial need section tends to be the weakest If you feel that any of this information is helpful to your
and lowest scoring of all the narratives. There are three com- cause, then extract it both in whole numbers and percentages.
mon mistakes that departments make in this section. Include with this local data the national data and how your
1. Not providing enough financial information about the area compares to it. Next, explain what steps you are taking
department. to address your department’s financial situation and what the
2. Not providing true information about the department’s short- and long-term outlook is for improvement. Then tie all
financial picture. of this information into your justification for federal assistance.
3. Not writing about the coverage area’s economic situation
and how it has impacted the department’s budget.
Begin your narrative by detailing your current sources of
funding, your department’s budget and your department’s
expenses. It is important to break these out in both whole
numbers and percentages of your budget. If any of these
amounts has been fluctuating, describe why and how this has
affected your operations. This is basically the root cause of
your need for financial assistance. To put it simply, this is why
the department doesn’t have the money to fund the project.
A quick reference to your service area demographic profile
may be extremely beneficial at this time. The census data

2015 AFG Resource Guide 9

 If your department has made any large expenditures in the
past year that have negatively affected your budget, explain
them in detail. If I were a reviewer and a department told
me that it spent $65,000 last year fixing the sidewalk at the
station and this year was requesting $62,000 for 10 new SCBA,
I would wonder where are their priorities. Why didn’t they
spend the $62,000 to buy new SCBA and put the sidewalk
project on the back burner? The reason may be very valid.
Perhaps both the city code officer and their insurance compa-
ny wrote them up and mandated repairs be made because the
sidewalk was in such poor condition it was a safety hazard.
The reviewer will never know this if it is not included in the
narrative and he will draw his own conclusions — like ques-
tioning the department’s spending priorities.
The next part of your narrative should describe what you
want to purchase and how much it costs. If your project con-
sists of several items, list each one and its price. Be sure to give
the total project cost and any matching funds that you may
be providing. Then provide information on how your depart-
ment will be securing its match.
Be clear with the description of your financial situation.
Remember, your application will probably be in front of a
reviewer for only a few minutes. Be open about your depart-
ment’s financial outlook and the reasons for it. Explain with
examples why this situation has occurred and how you are
trying to address it. ■
Mayday, Mayday
Don’t let these 4 common mistakes derail your
grant efforts.
• Do not try to lower your budget numbers just
to look poor. It is hard to imagine a department
responding to 200 alarms a year from two sta-
tions with six pieces of apparatus on a $25,000
annual budget.
• If you are planning to provide more than the
required match, give as much detail as possi-
ble for the source of these funds.
• Be practical in your request for funds. Don’t
just add extra equipment to the request
because a salesperson is telling you to. The
reviewers are knowledgeable and will spot this
immediately.
• Don’t copy someone else’s narratives and
simply change the department name, espe-
cially the financial need section. You need to
describe your need for financial assistance and
their information won’t make sense in your
application.

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10 2015 AFG Resource Guide

2015 AFG PROJECT GUIDES
Each AFG application will require you to identify specific projects
your fire department wants help funding. Those projects can
be combined into six broad categories: PPE projects, training
projects, modifications to facilities projects, wellness and fitness
projects, equipment projects and new vehicle projects. We’ll
walk you through each of those categories paying attention to
common pitfalls, FEMA requirements and some special nuances.
We also explain the increasingly popular micro grants and how
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2015 AFG Resource Guide 11

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PPE Projects
Any project request that you make should be based on your
department’s risk assessment. Part of this assessment is going
to include an evaluation of your PPE. PPE is easily defined as
your turnout gear from head to toe, including SCBA.
Preparation for your grant application should include a
complete inventory of your PPE. Determine if there is enough
turnout gear to equip every member who answers alarms.
Make sure that the number of firefighters listed under Appli-
cant Information agrees with the turnout gear inventory. In
other words, don’t list 22 firefighters and then show 29 sets of
gear. The computer review of your application will read this as
a surplus and jeopardize advancing your application to peer
review. For PPE, answer these questions.
• Do you have assigned gear for each firefighter or do you
operate from a grab rack?
• If you operate from a grab rack, how is this affecting
your response time?
• Does the age and condition of your gear meet current
NFPA standards?
• Did any of your firefighters suffer any injuries because of
the condition of your gear?
• Were any of your firefighters denied hands-on training
because of the gear’s condition?
• Has the gear’s condition negatively affected the number
of firefighters answering alarms, especially automatic
and mutual aid calls?
12 2015 AFG Resource Guide
Your SCBA assessment should answer these questions.
• Does your SCBA inventory accommodate at least one
SCBA for each riding position on the apparatus?
• What NFPA standard does your SCBA meet? AFG is
concerned with the standard year that your SCBA meets,
not the year you purchased the units.
• Have you had any situations where your SCBA failed at
an alarm or training class?
• Have your firefighters sustained any injuries as a result of
the condition of your SCBA?
• Does your current SCBA inventory include units from
different manufacturers or different models from the
same manufacturer?
• Have any firefighters been denied training because of the
SCBA’s condition?
• Are your SCBA so old that they can no longer be re-
paired?
• Are your air cylinders near or past their last hydro test
date?
Include the answers to these questions in the project de-
scription narrative.
The cost/benefit narrative should detail the advantages that
the department will have with new SCBA and or turnout gear
and the value those will bring. The statement of effect should
specify how the new PPE will positively affect the operations
and increase the department’s viability. ■
Mayday, Mayday
• For turnout gear requests, make sure your gear inventory under the Request Details section does not
list more gear than you have firefighters listed under the Applicant Information section.

• If you are not requesting training funds along with your PPE request, a question at the end of the Re-
quest Details section asks if you will seek training elsewhere. You must answer “yes” or you will receive a
negative score during technical review.

• Do not apply to replace gear that is less than 10 years old or SCBA that is less than two NFPA cycles old.

• Do not apply for turnout gear for future members. A turnout gear request cannot be made for firefight-
ers who may join the department in the future.

• For AFG, an SCBA consists of the cylinder that comes with the pack and a spare cylinder. Do not apply
for additional spare cylinders. AFG assumes that 10 SCBA units will have 20 cylinders.

• SCBA from a manufacturer that is no longer in business is considered obsolete.

• The SCBA’s age is determined from the manufacturer’s tag attached to the SCBA, not from the date on
the cylinder.

• Allow sufficient time to work on your application and have someone else read the application before
submission.

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2015 AFG Resource Guide 13

 Training Projects
The training component of AFG offers the applicant a wide
array of options to choose from when requesting financial
assistance. However, it seems to be one of the lesser-used and
more misunderstood categories of AFG. Departments contin-
ue to have problems understanding which requests fall under
training and which should actually be submitted as equipment
applications to AFG. Problems also persist with departments
filing training applications with AFG when their request
should actually be handled as an additional expenses to their
vehicle, equipment or PPE application. In addition, applicants
continue to request lower-priority training activities when
a high percentage of their firefighters have yet to meet basic
standards.
To make your application for training funds more compet-
itive you need to examine the type of activity you are propos-
ing, how the activity will be presented and what will be the
end result of the activity.
Under the Training Activity of AFG, FEMA has established
NFPA 1001 Firefighter I and II, EMT, and hazmat operations
training activities as the priority. To go along with these prior-
ities, FEMA has developed a training priority matrix. It is part
of the Funding Opportunity Announcement.
before you begin your training application to determine which
priority your proposed training project meets.
Because of limited funding, requests for a low- or even
medium-priority training activity have little chance of being
funded. In addition to this matrix, FEMA has determined
that hands-on, instructor-led training that meets a national,
state, and/or DHS-adopted standard and results in a national
or state certification provides the greatest training benefit.
Instructor-led training that requires student testing to demon-
strate academic competence and/or practical proficiency for
certification will receive a high competitive rating. Proposed
training activities that benefit the highest percentage of
applicable personnel within a fire department or training that
will be open to other departments in the region, also receive a
high competitive rating.
Photo: Flickr/Arlington County

In this matrix, FEMA lists the priorities for urban, suburban

and rural departments by individual training activity. Each
activity has also been assigned a high, medium or low priority
by FEMA in each population category. Consult this matrix

14 2015 AFG Resource Guide

 In recent years, FEMA has moved such items as simulators
and all mobile or fixed fire and evolution props (such as burn
trailers, forcible entry and rescue or smoke mazes) from train-
ing to the equipment category under AFG. Unfortunately, if
you apply under the wrong category, your application is not
going to be rerouted by the computer to the proper category.
Along these same lines, if you are filing a request for fund-
ing under another category of AFG and you feel that your
firefighters need training associated with that request, you do
not need to file that request as a separate training application.
That request is handled under the Additional Funding section
of your request. For example, if you are requesting funds for
SCBA and you feel your firefighters will need training on the
use of the new SCBA, you can request this training as part of
your PPE application and you do not have to file an additional
training application. Hopefully this has clarified both of these
issues. ■

Mayday, Mayday
• Minor interior alterations to your station, not
to exceed $10,000 to support the awarded
training activities, like the removal or construc-
tion of a non-weight bearing wall, is an eligible
activity.

• Overtime expenses paid to career firefighters

to attend training or to backfill positions for
colleagues who are in training is an eligible
request.

• Compensation to volunteers (fire and nonaf-

filiated EMS) for wages lost to attend training
is an eligible activity. However, there are no
overtime or backfill expenses for volunteers.

• Construction of facilities such as buildings,

towers or sheds is not an eligible expense.

• The purchase of firefighting equipment or PPE

used exclusively for training is not eligible.
Photo: Flickr/Arlington County

2015 AFG Resource Guide 15

 Brought to you by

Photo: Flickr/Arlington County

Modification to Facilities Projects
Although AFG has been around for more than a decade, the
title of this category still causes confusion for some depart-
ments. Funding under this activity cannot be used to renovate
or rehabilitate a station. The modification to a facility cannot
change the structure’s footprint or profile. Funding can be
used for activities such as exhaust removal systems, smoke or
fire alarm notification systems and sprinkler systems.
The highest priority under this category is for modifica-
tions to stations that are occupied 24 hours a day, seven days
a week. This works well for a career department or a com-
bination or volunteer department that has sleeping quarters
and someone in station. But what if you don’t have sleeping
quarters; does this make your grant less competitive?
No, but you have to detail 24-hour use of the station to meet
the competitive threshold. For example, some fire stations
are also used as the town’s police station, the community’s
dispatch center or the town ambulance station. All of these
activities will have 24-hour presence in the station; this use
needs to be detailed in the narrative. Is the station used for
community functions such as scout meetings, blood drives,
town council meetings, community fundraisers or for region-
al trainings or meetings? If so, discuss this at length in the
narrative. The more use you can document for the building,
the more competitive the application becomes. Showing that
the modification would also benefit the community in general
and other neighboring fire departments increases the likeli-
hood of getting funded.
For example, our volunteer department is requesting funds
for a vehicle exhaust removal system. Annually, we answer 480
alarms. This equates to 1.5 alarms per day. In addition we have
a 3-hour training session each week. Our department has two
membership meetings each month and a committee meeting
each week. The first Monday of each month we host a group
training class for nine neighboring departments.
These activities expose our firefighters and the neighboring
departments to the harmful effects of diesel exhaust. Since we
have no social hall, our apparatus room is used for fundraising
activities such as a weekly bingo, our annual festival, fire pre-
vention activities, a monthly blood drive and monthly scout
meetings. These activities expose the general public to diesel
exhaust fumes and increase its negative health effects to the
community in general.
Additional consideration is given to the age of the station.
Older buildings are given a higher priority under AFG. ■

16 2015 AFG Resource Guide

Mayday, Mayday
• New fire station construction is not eligible.

• The station must have been built before 2003.

If it has an addition, only the pre-2003 section
is eligible.

• Total funding for each station cannot exceed

$100,000.

• Source capture exhaust extraction systems

have the highest priority under the vehicle
exhaust mitigation category.

• Station maintenance and bay-floor resurfacing

is not eligible.

• You must complete an Environmental and His-

toric Preservation Screening form if selected
for an award.

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2015 AFG Resource Guide 17

 Wellness and Fitness Projects
Another AFG program area that has perplexed applicants is
the Wellness and Fitness category. Many applicants over the
years have simply applied for fitness equipment and noth-
ing else and then wondered why their application didn’t get
funded. Under AFG, Wellness and Fitness is a comprehensive
program; the application is not going to be competitive if a
department isn’t meeting AFG’s standards for this activity.
Potential projects can include initial medical exams,
job-related immunization, annual medical and fitness evalu-
ation, and behavioral health. Behavioral health programs can
include, but are not limited to critical incident stress manage-
ment programs or employee assistance programs. Here are
three additional qualifying expenses.
• Transportation expenses related to a member’s participa-
tion in offered wellness and fitness activities.
• Contractual costs (non-hiring) for personnel, physical
fitness equipment (including shipping charges and sales
tax as applicable) and supplies directly related to physi-
cal fitness activities.
• Minor interior alterations (requested under Additional
Funding and are limited to $10,000 total expenditure) to
support the awarded wellness and fitness activities.
Wellness and fitness activities are intended to support
firefighters so their mental, physical and emotional capabili-
ties are strong enough to endure the demands of emergency
services response. AFG breaks eligible activities under this
18 2015 AFG Resource Guide
category into two priorities. In order to be eligible for AFG
funding under this activity, applicants must offer or plan to
offer all four of the following Priority 1 programs.
1. Initial medical exams.
2. Job-related immunizations.
3. Annual medical and fitness evaluation.
4. Behavioral health programs.
A department may only apply for Priority 2 activities if it
currently offers or is requesting a combination of the four
activities required under Priority 1. Departments that have
some of the Priority 1 programs in place must apply for funds
to implement the missing Priority 1 programs before apply-
ing for funds for any Priority 2 activities. In addition, funded
medical exams must meet current NFPA 1582. There are five
Priority 2 activities.
1. Candidate physical ability evaluation.
2. Formal fitness and injury prevention program and
equipment.
3. Injury and illness rehab.
4. IAFF or IAFC peer fitness trainer program(s), including
transportation, travel, overtime/backfill and reasonable
expenses associated with member participation in train-
the-trainer for IAFC/IAFF and implementation of a peer
fitness trainer programs.
5. Formal fitness and injury prevention program and
equipment. ■
Mayday, Mayday
• Fitness club memberships for participants or their families are not eligible.

• Non-cash incentives (T-shirts or hats of nominal value and vouchers to local businesses or time-off) are
not permitted, neither are the payment of a cash incentive.

• The purchase of buildings is not eligible.

• Purchase of medical equipment that is not used as part of the wellness and fitness program is
prohibited.

• Contractual services with anyone other than a medical professional for programs such as smoking
cessation is not permitted.

• Physicals must meet NFPA 1582.

2015 AFG Resource Guide 19

 Brought to you by
Equipment: Communications Projects
Applications under the equipment category make up the third
highest number of applications submitted annually — after
vehicles and PPE — for AFG funding. To meet AFG’s priority
for the equipment category, a request should be for equipment
that is a first-time purchase to support an existing mission, to
replace obsolete or damaged equipment or both. An obsolete
piece of equipment is defined as one that is 15 years old or
older or that is no longer manufactured. The second priority
under the equipment category is for equipment that increases
the capabilities within the department’s existing mission or to
meet a new risk.
Additional consideration is given to equipment that has a
direct affect on the health and safety of firefighters. Consid-
eration is also given to equipment that benefits other de-
partments and equipment that brings your department into
compliance with national standards or statutory requirements.
FEMA has done an excellent job of classifying individual
equipment into high, medium and low priorities. Check this
list before deciding on the type of equipment to request. If it
is not a high-priority item, the likelihood of being funded is
minimal. In addition, when requesting equipment, be sure
that the department has the operational capabilities for this
equipment. In other words, the Applicant Information section
asks what type of services a department provides. If it doesn’t
provide a specific type of service and you are attempting to
request equipment for that service, the request will never be
funded.
20 2015 AFG Resource Guide
In recent years, communications equipment has been one
of the most frequently requested equipment categories. The
likely culprit is the Federal Communications Commission
and its new mandated rules for fire, police and EMS radio
frequencies. Under the current budget, AFG continues to
fund applications for communications equipment — however,
at a very basic level. Included at that level are mobile radios,
portable radios, pagers, base radios and in apparatus repeat-
ers. Requests for other communications equipment will not be
considered.
The most important fact to keep in mind when planning
radio projects is that all radio equipment must be APCO Proj-
ect 25 (P25) compliant. All AFG applicants should conduct
market research prior to submitting their application.
When you are contacting prospective vendors, ask if the
desired communications equipment is P25 compliant and
operates in accordance with SAFECOM regulations and
technical standards. If you have questions or are not sure,
manufacturers are required to produce, upon request, sup-
porting documentation that shows the specified equipment is
P25 compliant.
As an initial step in researching P25-compliant communi-
cations equipment, for either your AFG application or award,
visit the DHS Lessons Learned Information Sharing website,
and click on RKB Certifications & Declarations. Type the ven-
dor/manufacturer name of the equipment being researched
into the “title” box and hit “apply.” Products listed will have
supporting P25 documentation. Click on the product for
specification details and documentation.
The move to P25-compliant communications equipment is
another attempt to standardize our response capabilities. P25
communications equipment has numerous benefits in perfor-
mance, efficiency, capabilities and quality. It is programmable,
scalable and can communicate in analog mode with legacy
radios and in both analog and digital mode with other P25
equipment. P25-compliant equipment also has encryption
capability and improved audio quality. P25 radios will allow
users from different agencies or areas to communicate directly
with each other. ■
Mayday, Mayday
• Existing equipment is considered obsolete
once it reaches 15 years old or is no longer
manufactured.
• Accountability systems are now located under
equipment (moved from PPE).
• All simulators and all mobile or fixed fire/
evolution props have moved from training to
equipment.

• Under the Request Details section, if you are

not requesting funding for training on the
equipment you are requesting, you must
check the box that asks if you will receive train-
ing from another source to have a competitive
application.

• Do not request equipment for services that

you do not provide.

• A request for portable radios allow for a porta-

ble radio for every seated position on the ap-
paratus; this number should match the seating
chart under Department Characteristics.

• Sirens or other outdoor warning devices are

not eligible for funding.

• Mobile radios for personally owned vehicles

are not eligible except chief fire officers’ per-
sonal vehicle, if justified.

• Telephones are not eligible for funding.

• Drones and other aerial surveillance devices

cannot be funded under this application.

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2015 AFG Resource Guide 21

 Micro Grants
The past two AFG application cycles have seen the initiation
and rapid growth of the micro grant concept. If a department
has needs that total less than $25,000 or a project that requires
Mayday, Mayday
a federal share of less than $25,000, micro grants deserve • No overmatching will be permitted for proj-
serious consideration. ects proposed under micro grants.
In 2014, AFG received 1,298 micro grant requests. Over 80
percent of the micro grant requests, 1,011 applications, went • If you pursue a micro grant, you cannot file an
to peer review. That is a much higher percentage going to peer additional request under the Firefighter Oper-
review than any other category under AFG. This should trans- ations and Safety activity.
late into a higher percentage of funded applications for those • Micro grants cannot be used under the Vehicle
who choose this selection. Application activity.
Do not get confused when completing the AFG application;
micro grants are not a separate application or program. They • Micro grants still carry all of the financial and
are a voluntary choice, made by the fire departments and programmatic reporting requirements of other
nonaffiliated EMS organizations for activities (equipment, AFG grants.
PPE, training, and wellness and fitness) within the Operations
and Safety application, to limit the federal share to $25,000 for
all Operations and Safety activities. Selecting a micro grant
option for an eligible Operations and Safety activity does not
impact an applicant’s request or federal participation under
the Vehicle Acquisition or Regional programs.
FEMA has consistently stated that applicants who select
micro grants as a funding opportunity choice may receive
additional consideration for awards. ■

22 2015 AFG Resource Guide

 Brought to you by
New Vehicle Projects
This past year, more than 50 percent of the applications FEMA
received for the AFG program were for vehicles. Out of that
number, FEMA will probably fund about 4 percent of the ap-
plications. This information should not scare you away from
the program, but inform you about the level of competition a
vehicle application faces.
Before delving into the project description narrative for a
new vehicle, there are several important issues that are found
in other sections of the application.
Choosing the class of apparatus you are applying for may
seem like a minor point. But for some, it can be the item that
sinks an application in the AFG review process. You would
not believe how often a department says that it wants to apply
for a new tanker (tender), when what it ends up describing is
not a tanker but an engine with a large water tank.
Remember, AFG has specific designations for apparatus
types. You need to read them and be familiar with them
before you decide what category of apparatus you are applying
for. To do this, you need to know the vehicle’s pump capacity
in gallons per minute and water tank size in gallons.
The Department Characteristics section also asks for a
breakdown of apparatus, how many seating positions it has
and if it is reserve or frontline. Just as you needed to know this
information for the new piece of apparatus, you also need to
know the classification of the vehicles you currently operate.
You may be surprised to find out that the vehicle standing in
your second apparatus bay is not really an engine after all.
The AFG application’s Request Details section asks for an
inventory of all vehicles that a department owns, has on loan
or has under contract. Basically, if it is sitting in your station
or on order, it is yours. Also in this section you must provide
the vehicle identification number for all your apparatus.
Another critical factor to examine is the AFG vehicle prior-
ity matrix. Departments consistently ignore this section and
apply for vehicles that have a low priority for their geographic
category. Then they wonder why their application was turned
down.
In recent years, FEMA has made this process so much
easier. Simply go to the AFG FOA document and determine
if your department is rural, urban or suburban. Next, look
at the listing of vehicles in the matrix under your geographic
category.
The vehicles will be grouped as high, medium or low pri-
ority. If the vehicle you wish to apply for is listed as a low or
medium priority, it is almost certain that your application will
not be funded. In the past when AFG was funded at nearly
double its current amount, a medium-priority vehicle was
a possibility. Since only about 4 percent of all AFG vehicle
applications are funded, your application will need to have an
almost perfect score in review.
2015 AFG Resource Guide 23
 The Project Description narrative of your application
becomes extremely important. In this section you need to de-
scribe the current vehicle or vehicles that you want to replace.
Answering these questions will paint a good picture of the
department’s vehicle situation.
• Does this vehicle have an open cab or open midship?
• Does it have a standard transmission?
• Does it have safety belts for the driver and all passen-
gers?
• Can this apparatus only be driven by a limited num-
ber of your firefighters, if so, how does this affect your
response capabilities?
• What repairs have been made to the vehicle over the past
three years?
• How have those repairs negatively impacted your budget?
• What is the current mechanical condition of the vehicle
and how much will it cost to repair it properly?
• Have there been any problems with this vehicle as it
responded to an alarm or while it was on scene?
Then describe the type of vehicle that you want to purchase.
List important features that the proposed vehicle will have and
the total cost.
The Cost/Benefit and Statement of Effect sections are also
crucial to the success of your application. Under the Cost/
Benefit section, describe how the purchase of the proposed
vehicle will benefit the department both operationally and
financially. Also discuss what will happen if your request isn’t
funded. Under the Statement of Effect, detail how having this
apparatus will affect your response capabilities. Also describe
how it will benefit your coverage area and your mutual- and
automatic-aid departments. Finally, tell how it will lead to
safer fireground operations. ■
Mayday, Mayday
• AFG will no longer fund refurbished or used
vehicles.
• Apply for the vehicle you need. Don’t submit
an exorbitant estimate just because it is a
grant and a salesperson told you to. AFG will
consider this an unreasonable request and
give it a low score.
• If you do not have a significant number of
buildings four stories or taller, you will not get
funded for new quint.
• If you are funded for a new vehicle, you must
permanently remove the vehicle you wanted
to replace from service.
• You cannot encumber the title of a FEMA-
funded vehicle by using it as collateral for a
loan.
• You will be asked if you are requesting funds
for training with this vehicle. If you answer
“no,” the next question will ask if you will be
receiving training through another source.
You must answer “yes” to be considered for
funding.
• Allow sufficient time to work on your applica-
tion and have someone else read the applica-
tion before submission.

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24 2015 AFG Resource Guide

 Brought to you by
Regional Projects
A regional application is an opportunity for two or more fire
departments to collaborate on a project that benefits all of the
applicants and their coverage areas. Regional applications give
departments a chance to achieve programs where they would
not have been competitive as an individual department and
to save money on such projects. Eligible regional program
activities are vehicle acquisition and training, equipment and
PPE activities. Regional program activities should achieve cost
effectiveness, support regional efficiency and resilience, and
benefit more than one local department.
Departments have successfully used the regional application
process to secure funding for requests that they would have
had difficulty obtaining on their own. A perfect example is
the benefits that can be derived through today’s simulation
training devices. This technology allows you to train your fire-
fighters without jeopardizing equipment or apparatus. It also
expands the training time that is available to firefighters.
A problem that departments encountered was the compet-
itiveness of their application to AFG. As a single department
they lacked the numbers to justify funding their application.
However, when this single department joined into a collabora-
tive effort with other area departments they were able to show
cost effectiveness and regional efficiency. This made their
application for simulation training more competitive.
Under all regional activities, one department must act as the
host for the application. As such, the host department must
agree, if awarded, to be responsible for all aspects of the grant.
This includes, but is not limited to, accountability for all assets
received through the grant and all reporting requirements in
the regional application.
All participants in a regional application must sign a
memorandum of understanding prior to submission of the
application. The memorandum should specify the responsi-
bilities of the participating partners, the participants’ level of
involvement in the project, and the proposed distribution of
all grant-funded assets. Successful regional applicants shall
provide a copy of the signed memorandum at the time of
award. Any entity named in the application as benefiting from
the award must have signed the memorandum.
In the project description narrative, the regional host
department must include a list of all the departments that are
participating in the proposed project. The narrative should
also provide specific details that fully explaining the distri-
bution of any grant-funded acquisitions or grant-funded
contracted services.
All departments participating in a regional application must
be compliant with all AFG requirements, including being cur-
rent with past grants, closeouts and other reporting require-
ments. Upon notification by the AFG Program Office, the
host agency will not distribute grant-funded assets or provide
grant-funded contractual services to non-compliant partner
organizations.
2015 AFG Resource Guide 25
 In the past, the only eligible activities under an AFG region-
al program were equipment, PPE and training activities. In Mayday, Mayday
recent years, AFG has added vehicles. Those considering a re-
gional vehicle request must examine AFG’s published priority • If you are a part of a regional application you
list to determine if the vehicle in mind is a high priority. cannot apply to AFG for the same project on
There are six high-priority vehicles under a regional application. your own.
1. Aerial. • The host department never functions as a
2. Mobile command vehicle. pass-through organization and the participat-
3. Air/light utility. ing partners are never sub-grantees; the host
4. Bariatric ambulance. distributes grant-funded assets and never
5. Rehab unit. grant funds to participating organizations.
6. Non-transport, nonaffiliated EMS — community
• The host department is responsible for all
paramedic.
financial and programmatic reporting.
When contemplating a regional application, remember that
it is a collaborative effort among separate departments. One • Ownership of the grant-funded assets stays
department with several stations is not considered a regional with the department that accepts them.
applicant. The same holds true for a county-wide fire de-
partment seeking AFG funding for assets that benefit several
stations.
When completing an AFG regional application, the host
department will complete the Applicant Information section
using only its own department information. However, when
completing the Department Characteristics section, the
regional host applicant must include data that approximates
the characteristics of all eligible organizations participating in
the grant. In addition, when completing the Request Details

Photo: Flickr/Fairfax County

and Narrative sections, the host applicant must list any non-
AFG eligible third-party organizations that will benefit if the
grant is approved. When calculating the required match for a
regional grant the host will use the total population served by
all departments involved in the regional application. ■

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26 2015 AFG Resource Guide

2015 AFG Resource Guide 27
More at FireGrantsHelp.com
• More essential AFG resources

• Myth-busting the new fire grant rules

• Understanding the new fire grant rules

• 7 common fire grant rejection letter questions answered

• Fire grant money is coming, now what?

Other AFG Resources

• FY 2015 AFG Application Workshop

• AFG Application Guidance Materials

• AFG Success Stories

• SAM Get Ready Guide

Photo: Jason Pack/FEMA

Get much more information on AFG 2015 at www.firegrantshelp.com