The AFG Program provides financial assistance directly to eligible fire departments, nonaffiliated emergency medical service (EMS) organizations, and State Fire Training Academies (SFTAs) to equip and train emergency personnel to recognized standards, outfit responders with compliant personal protective equipment, provide funding to retrofit or modify facilities to protect personnel from known health hazards, acquire emergency response vehicles, design and implement health, wellness and resiliency programs that prepare responders for incident response, enhance operational efficiencies, foster interoperability, and support community resilience.

Eligibility

The following entities or entity types located in the 50 United States, District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any federally recognized tribal government or organization are eligible to apply:

• Fire Departments;
• Nonaffiliated EMS organizations;
• Clinics, medical centers, infirmaries, and surgery centers;
• medical colleges or universities; and
• Any other institution, association, or foundation providing medical, surgical or psychiatric care and/or treatment for the sick or injured.

For further details regarding eligibility, please see the full Notice of Funding Opportunity.

Match Requirement

Recipient cost sharing is required as described below pursuant to 15 U.S.C.§ 2229(k)(1). Recipients shall make available non-federal funds as described below:

• 5 percent for jurisdictions serving a population of 20,000 residents or fewer,
• 10 percent for jurisdictions serving a population of 20,000 up to 1 million residents,
• 15 percent for jurisdictions serving a population of over 1 million residents.
• For SFTAs, the cost share is based on the state's total population. For Regional applications, the cost share is based on the combined population of the primary response areas of the host and partner organizations outlined in a Memorandum of Understanding.

Types of Cost Share:

1. Cash (Hard Match): Cost share of non-federal cash is the only allowable recipient contribution for AFG Program activity (Vehicle Acquisition, Operations and Safety, and Regional).
2. Trade-In Allowance/Credit: On a case-by-case basis, FEMA may allow recipients already owning assets acquired with non-federal cash to use the trade-in allowance/credit value of those assets as cash for the purpose of meeting their cost share obligation. For FEMA to consider a trade-in allowance/credit value as cash, the allowance amount must be reasonable, and the allowance amount must be a separate entry clearly identified in the acquisition documents.

How to Apply

Applications must be submitted to FEMA's grant platform, FEMA GO. There are user guides for FEMA GO available here.

Contact

The Fire Grants Program Help Desk provides technical assistance to applicants for the online completion and submission of applications into FEMA Grants Outcomes (FEMA GO), answers questions concerning applicant eligibility, recipient responsibilities, and helps in the programmatic administration of awards. The Fire Grants Program Help Desk can be contacted at (866) 274-0960 or by email at FireGrants@fema.dhs.gov. Normal hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. ET.

Fire Program Specialists in FEMA’s regions respond to questions about the program and conduct grant monitoring activities. View regional contacts.

Deadline

The application deadline is 5pm on June 22, 2026.