The application period for the Assistance to Firefighters Fire Station
Construction Grants closed last week, and the wait to see how the $210
million will be allocated begins. I’m anxious to see how many
departments submitted applications and how they breakdown between new
stations and renovations. I suspect FEMA will be in for a surprise when
sees how many departments are in need of assistance.
Several architects I talked to were slammed with helping fire
departments submit grant applications. A few chiefs of small departments
e-mailed to ask me whether it was worth asking for small sums —
$225,000 — and I encouraged them to submit. I think the best step
FEMA took was capping the grants at $5 million per station, which
hopefully will let more volunteer departments share in the $210 million.
I also had an interesting conversation with Don Dommer, a registered
architect for 41 years. In that time, he has seen a lot of changes in
the fire service and public-services architecture. Click
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