Over 100 Detroit firefighters scheduled to be laid off will keep their jobs thanks to a federal grant. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) announced Wednesday that the city would receive $22.5 million in funding from the Department of Homeland Security’s Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program. SAFER provides grants to fire departments across the country to help keep them staffed with frontline firefighters, so they can keep their communities safe.
“It is vital that we maintain the fire protection our citizens need, even during times of tight budgets,” Levin said in a release. “This grant will help keep firefighters on the job and protecting the people of Detroit.”
There are 881 sworn firefighters and and 248 EMS technicians on staff in the Detroit Fire Department
"There's no other city that's more deserving than Detroit," Dan McNamara, president of the Detroit Fire Fighters Association told the Detroit Free Press. "Citizens can rest easier tonight. It doesn't fix it all, but it sure starts it."
Earlier this week Mayor Bing announced that the Detroit Fire Department would be laying off 164 firefighters -- approximately 18 percent of its force. At the time the city expected to restore many of them with funds from the federal grant.
Detroit's 2012-13 budget, which takes effect on July 1, will eliminate about 2,600 city jobs.