MARYSVILLE — The Marysville Fire District will receive $560,000 in a FEMA Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant.

“Thanks to the hard work of the Board of Directors, administrative staff and firefighters, we have been able to secure a federal SAFER grant that will allow us to rehire the three firefighter positions that were laid off in April of 2011,” Marysville Fire Chief Corn said. “We have been searching for alternative funding to meet the needs of the community and the SAFER grant helps to fill that need. At the end of the day, the safety and well-being of our residents and firefighters will always be our top priority.”

This marks the first time the Marysville Fire District has applied for the federal staffing funding. Highest consideration is given to departments that have lost employees due to layoffs and attrition.

“Keeping our communities safe must be our top priority, especially in tough economic times, and that’s why we worked so hard to seek the resources needed to get the job done,” Corn said.

The three firefighters will begin working Aug. 1 as part of the timeline established through the grant award process. The Marysville Fire District will receive monies to fund these firefighters for two years, the length of the grant period. Unlike other FEMA grant programs, there will be no matching funds required to hire these firefighters.

The SAFER grant was created to provide funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations in order to help them increase the number of trained front-line firefighters available in their communities. The goal of SAFER is to enhance the local fire departments’ abilities to comply with staffing, response and operational standards.

For more information about the SAFER grant, log onto www.fema.gov/firegrants.