Federal Grants For Fire Departments In The Duluth Area

DULUTH, Minn. — The cost of special firefighting equipment and training often cannot be paid for out of a department’s regular operating budget.
That’s where federal grants sometimes come into play.

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar was in Duluth Thursday and spoke about how federal grants assist departments. Proctor Chief Kerry Helquist says his department has used such funds for state-of-the-art Airpacks and extrication tools. Duluth’s Fire Chief says a $40,000 grant will send forty people to special emergency driver training later this month.

“This is something that we just couldn’t do. All three of our shifts have people going down to this training three days in a row. And it’s something we could not provide with just our limited funds, our training funds, our overtime budget that we would need to cover,” said Chief Shawn Krizaj, Duluth Fire Department.

“It’s made a huge difference in our response. Our I-35 corridor where we have numerous car accidents. It’s saved time. It’s saved lives,” said Chief Kerry Helquist, Proctor Fire Department.

Chief Helquist said the funds have helped while his department has responded to a record number of calls.