Feds Could Cut Funding For First Responders' By $1.5 Billion

EDGEMERE, Md. -- Proposed cuts in federal funding could prevent local volunteer fire departments from getting much needed equipment, some lawmakers said.

The North Point Edgemere Volunteer Fire Department in Baltimore County has in service a fire truck that's 20 years old and not working the way it used to, WBAL-TV 11 News reporter Megan McHale reported.

"We're having electrical troubles, we've had mechanical troubles, and it's to the point now where you really have to evaluate [whether] you want to put the money into repair, or do you need to replace [it]? And it's at that point where we need to start looking at replacement," Buddy Staigerwald, a member of the North Point Edgemere station, said.

A replacement would cost $350,000.

"We try to extend all resources we can to try to make the economic impact on the community as little as possible," Staigerwald said.

But lawmakers said they are trying to provide aid, including applying for grants and federal funds -- but those funds may no longer be available. Ruppersberger told the volunteer firefighters that the federal Department of Homeland Security proposes cutting $1.5 billion in grants for first responders.

"At a time right now when we live in a very unstable society as it relates to terrorism and threats, I think it's really not the right priority to cut the first responders' money that could come to stations like this," Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-District 2, said.

But cuts in federal funds isn't the only problem. The firefighters said strains on the community, like Hurricane Isabel, have also led to a drop in donations.

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