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Last week Senator Chuck Grassley announced that 10 fire departments in Iowa will receive grants from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and FEMA, with the Harvey Fire Department receiving more than $72,000.

This week Marion County Emergency Management Coordinator Jeff Anderson met with Harvey Mayor Dennis Seibert and Fire Chief Chuck Evans to discuss the details of the grant.

The City of Harvey is responsible for providing a 5% match to the grant, equal to $3,633. The money will be used to purchase equipment such as helmets, boots, jackets and air tanks for the departments’ 10 firefighters and 2 EMTs, who all work on a volunteer basis. Chief Evans says the cost to equip a firefighter with all necessary equipment is roughly $6,000 each.

Seibert says grants like these are critical for small town fire departments as they have small public safety budgets. For example, Harvey’s public safety budget is only $5,000 per year.

The department is also working on an additional Assistance to Fire Fighters grant for $220,000 to help finance the purchase of a new tanker truck.

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