At a special meeting held last Friday, the City of Mission accepted the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The federal grant is worth $1,022,828, and it will be utilized to hire nine new firefighters for Mission. This is the first time the city has received the SAFER grant with the fire department in mind, Mission has received it for the police department in the past. Mayor Armando O’caña and City Manager Martin Garza were excited to see how the grant will impact and encourage city growth.
“We really appreciate the federal government boosting us up,” O’caña said. “We want to increase the firefighters, so it’s a win-win situation for everybody.”