A nearly $9 million federal grant will allow the City of Spokane to hire 50 more firefighters next year and extend service hours for medical units dispatched to non-life-threatening calls. “Nothing but good news from the Spokane Fire Department this morning. We’re very humbled by the government’s support of our community,” Assistant Chief Brian Schaeffer said at a news conference Friday. The money comes from the Staffing For Adequate Fire & Emergency Response (SAFER) program overseen by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It’s Spokane’s second award from the program; the department got $2 million in 2014, which helped bolster the Alternative Response Units that now answer less urgent medical calls within the Fire Department’s service area.