AFG Grant: $291.6M for Firefighter Equipment, Training, and Wellness (FY 2025)

FEMA's Grant Programs Directorate has posted the FY 2025 Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program, making $291.6 million available to fire departments, non-affiliated EMS organizations, and State Fire Training Academies. AFG is FEMA's workhorse program for getting protective equipment, training, vehicles, and wellness programs in front of the country's emergency responders — and FY 2025 expects to fund roughly 1,800 awards with a ceiling as high as $9 million.

AFG is the equipment-and-training companion to FEMA's SAFER Grant, which funds firefighter personnel. Most departments apply to both: SAFER for people, AFG for the gear and training those people need.

What AFG Funds

AFG is organized around three core activities, plus a separate vehicle category. An applicant can request projects in any combination, but each must be justified independently.

1. Operations & Safety

The biggest bucket. Funds the gear and training that keep firefighters and EMS responders safer on the job:

• Personal protective equipment (PPE), including turnout gear and SCBA
• Training and certifications (firefighter I/II, hazmat, technical rescue, EMS)
• Equipment that protects responders (thermal imagers, gas meters, RIT packs)
• Wellness and fitness programs — behavioral health, physicals, cancer screening
• Modifications to fire stations addressing known health hazards (e.g., diesel exhaust capture)
• Interoperability and communications equipment

2. Vehicle Acquisition

Funds the purchase of new or refurbished fire apparatus and emergency response vehicles, including:

• Pumpers, tankers, and aerial apparatus
• Rescue vehicles and brush trucks
• Ambulances and EMS response units
• Command and support vehicles tied to the response mission

Vehicle awards typically have the highest dollar value but the strictest review — departments must demonstrate that current apparatus is beyond service life and that the requested vehicle is the minimum needed to meet the operational gap.

3. Regional Projects

A "host" department applies on behalf of a group of departments to fund equipment, training, or projects that benefit the broader region. Award ceilings for regional projects are higher than single-department awards, making this an efficient route for shared training centers, mutual-aid radio caches, regional SCBA fills, or county-wide PPE replacement.

Who Can Apply

Eligible applicants:

• Fire departments — career, combination, paid-on-call, and volunteer
• Non-affiliated EMS organizations — public or nonprofit EMS providers that are not part of a fire department
• State Fire Training Academies (SFTAs) — one designated academy per state, plus the academies of DC and U.S. territories

Federally recognized tribal fire departments are eligible. For-profit EMS providers, hospitals, and individuals are not eligible.

Cost Share Requirements

Unlike FY 2025 SAFER, AFG retains its statutory cost-share requirement. The required local match scales with population served:

• Jurisdiction population < 20,000: 5% match
• Jurisdiction population 20,000–1,000,000: 10% match
• Jurisdiction population > 1,000,000: 15% match

State Fire Training Academies, regional applicants, and non-affiliated EMS may have category-specific match rules — always check the NOFO. Match must be cash; in-kind contributions don't count toward AFG cost share.

Key Timeline

1. May 18, 2026: NOFO posted on Grants.gov and FEMA GO
2. June 22, 2026, 5:00 p.m. ET: Applications due in FEMA GO
3. July 22, 2026: Archive date
4. Fall 2026 – early 2027: Award announcements expected on a rolling basis

Tips for a Competitive AFG Application

1. Pick one strong project, not a wishlist. Successful AFG applications focus on a single, well-justified operational gap. Departments that combine PPE, training, and a vehicle in the same narrative tend to score below those who lead with one clear need.
2. Document the gap with hard data. NFIRS run data, current PPE inventory and ages, NFPA compliance status, and incident reports drive the narrative. "Our SCBAs are old" is weak; "Our 24 MSA G1 SCBAs are 12+ years old, beyond NFPA 1981 service life, with documented seat-leak failures on 4 units" is strong.
3. Tie everything to a national priority. FEMA's AFG criteria reward applications aligned with national priorities such as cancer prevention, behavioral health, response to wildland-urban interface fires, and interoperability. State the alignment explicitly.
4. Show cost-effectiveness. For vehicle requests in particular, demonstrate that you've taken delivery quotes, considered shared/regional alternatives, and chosen the minimum specification that meets the mission.
5. Demonstrate financial need. Property tax limits, declining call-revenue, denied capital requests, and millage failures all support the case that AFG funding is necessary, not just convenient.
6. Use the regional project route when it fits. If your county has 12 small departments all running 1990s-era SCBAs, a regional AFG for shared SCBA replacement scores far better than 12 separate applications.
7. Plan for the match. Local match must be cash and must be available at award. Get governing-body approval (resolution, budget amendment) before submitting so you can answer "yes" on the cost-share certification.

How to Apply

1. Confirm your organization type (fire department, non-affiliated EMS, or SFTA) and activity category
2. Verify your SAM.gov registration is active and your UEI number is current
3. Log in to FEMA GO and confirm your roles
4. Download the FY 2025 AFG NOFO, Funding Notice, and FAQs from fema.gov/firegrants
5. Build the project narrative, budget, and cost-share documentation
6. Submit in FEMA GO by June 22, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. ET

For technical or programmatic questions, contact the FEMA GO Help Desk at 1-877-585-3242 or femago@fema.dhs.gov.

Related Resources

• FY 2025 SAFER Grant: $324M to Hire and Retain Firefighters
• How to Register on SAM.gov for Federal Grants
• Grants.gov Registration Guide for Local Governments

How Avila Can Help

AFG is competitive: 1,800 awards out of typically 8,000+ applications. The departments that win consistently are the ones with crisp problem statements, defensible cost-effectiveness analysis, and clear alignment with FEMA's scoring criteria. Avila helps fire departments structure the narrative, pull the supporting NFIRS and inventory data, and stress-test the application against the published criteria before submission. Book a demo to see how Avila can sharpen your AFG submission.