Cape Girardeau Fire Department receives grant

The Cape Girardeau Fire Department received a big grant Tuesday to support Community Early Response Teams.

The State Emergency Management Agency announced that the department received $34,736 in federal tax money for the program that trains volunteers to help their neighbors in an emergency.

The grant -- nearly 10 percent of the total allocated statewide for 46 teams -- recognizes that Cape Girardeau is a leader in getting residents ready for bad times, said Susie Stonner of SEMA.

Cape Girardeau's program is 13 years old, and the fire department operates it in partnership with the Red Cross, the county health department and the Jackson Fire Department. Money from the grant will pay for training and emergency packs given to groups that complete a 20-hour training course, said fire Capt. Paul Breitenstein.

The training, in groups of up to 20, takes place four to six times a year, he said. The federal money to support the program started flowing after the terrrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

The grant is relatively large, Breitenstein said, because of the size and quality of the training program. "We have been doing this so long and we have gotten good at it," he said.