(GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.) The Grand Rapids Fire Department will be able to hire eight more firefighters for three years without using money from the city thanks to a grant. 
The GRFD has been awarded the FEMA SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) grant.
The department will use the grant which is worth almost $3 million to start training recruits in January 2023. 
“This grant along with other FEMA assistance that we have been lucky enough to receive will strengthen our ability to respond to areas where we have demonstrated gaps," said John Lehman, the GRFD Fire Chief. We are very thankful for these Federal programs which reduce the stress on our city’s budget.”
A firefighter will be added to the ladder companies at the Martin Luther King Fire Station and the Kalamazoo Avenue Fire Station. 
Additional firefighters will also help keep Engine Company 2 ready to respond when needed from the MLK station. 
Engine Co. 2 is frequently taken out of service by moving personnel at a moment’s notice to staff Utility 2 and help protect first responders who are at incidents on the highway.

Fire Department to hire 8 firefighters with grant money from FEMA