WASHINGTON – A day after the downtown Buffalo blaze that claimed the life of a city firefighter, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer on Thursday warned that federal funding for programs that aid local fire departments is about to run out.
The funding authorization for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Program is set to expire on Sept. 30. But in a conference call with reporters, Schumer, a New York Democrat, said he is sponsoring legislation that would extend the programs to 2030.
“I’m here to sound the alarm and to announce my push to lead the effort to save these critical federal firefighter programs with a new bill,” Schumer said.
The federal legislation has brought nearly $700 million to New York over the past 20 years.
Buffalo won a $10 million grant under the programs in 2019 to hire 50 additional firefighters. In 2021, the Niagara Falls Fire Department received $314,718 to purchase new breathing equipment for use by firefighters. And just last month, the Jamestown Fire Department was awarded $1.8 million to hire eight firefighters and $284,291 for new radios and other equipment.
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“He had his whole future in front of him, an exemplary firefighter and employee, just a great all-around person. No one ever had anything negative to say about firefighter Arno,” Fire Commissioner William Renaldo said.
Schumer said he tried to renew the programs in an end-of-the-year spending package last year, but some Republican senators balked at that effort. That being the case, Schumer said he launched a new legislative effort, fearing the programs – which were created under legislation he got passed in 1999 – would disappear.
“This would devastate upstate New York fire departments that uniquely depend on this program, ripping away millions from communities to hire new firefighters, purchase life-saving equipment and much more,” he said.
“Now we’re down to the wire to get this done, but I’m standing with our upstate firefighters and I’m promising them I will not stop until this passes,” Schumer added. “When it comes to protecting the firefighters, we should spare no expense.”
Calling firefighters heroes who “rush to danger every day to protect us, putting all else aside to help those in need,” Schumer offered condolences to the family of Jason Arno, the firefighter who died fighting that blaze on Main Street on Wednesday, as well as the Buffalo Fire Department.
“Jason Arno was a wonderful man,” Schumer said. “He’s a hero who made the ultimate sacrifice and my prayers are with him, his loved ones and the entire Buffalo Fire Department, which is in mourning for this terrible loss.”