WASHINGTON – Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15) announced $404,550 in funding for the city of McAllen to hire new firefighters. The funding is part of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Fiscal Year 2018 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Program which is designed to strengthen the nation’s ability to respond to fire and fire-related hazards and improve the nation’s preparedness. A total of $350 million in competitive grants are made available through the SAFER Program to fire departments and statewide or local volunteer firefighter support groups. The objective of the SAFER Program is to award grants to fire departments ...