AUGUSTA – Maine fire chiefs are gearing up to apply for federal grants under a new program that President Bush is proposing to eliminate after its first year. The chiefs also are gearing up to fight to keep the program alive.

“This program really has a lot of interest across the state and I hope most departments will apply,” said Caribou Fire Chief Roy Woods, vice president of the Maine Fire Chiefs Association. “There have been e-mails and letters flying across the state about this program.”

Woods said the grants program is the first major federal aid package for fire departments, and the chiefs in Maine plan to lobby to keep it beyond this year. Congress appropriated $100 million for the current fiscal year, and indicated a funding target of $300 million next year.

In a budget overview submitted to Congress earlier this month, President Bush recommended elimination of the program next year as “unneeded,” arguing that the grants, for a wide variety of firefighting and prevention efforts, are not a responsibility of the federal government.

“They certainly are needed, in my opinion,” said Lewiston Fire Chief Michael LaJoie, a regional vice president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs. “This money would go for a whole range of things that would help the local taxpayer and for once I can go to my local city council and say I can get a grant to help pay for equipment or training. They have been able to do that at the police department for years.”

In fact, the various federal grants for law enforcement were used as models by Congress in drafting the legislation. Marc Wolfson, a spokesman for the U.S. Fire Administration, said the law establishes six major categories for the grants – training for firefighters; wellness and fitness programs for firefighters; purchase of firetrucks and other firefighting vehicles; purchase of firefighting equipment, including communications gear; purchase of personal protective equipment for firefighters; and fire prevention programs.

“And there are rules to make sure the money is equitably spread between communities,” he said. “For example, there are limits by size of communities and no single grant can be for more than $750,000.”

Final rules for the program are still being developed, but Wolfson said they are expected to be completed this week with application forms being made available next week. He said the application window has been set from April 2 to May 2. The grants will require matching funds at differing levels, with some requiring as little as a 5 percent match from the community.

“There are more than 30,000 fire departments across the country,” he said, “and from the interest we have seen, we expect a lot of applications.”

Of particular interest to State Fire Marshal John Dean is the $5 million set aside for fire prevention programs that states as well as communities and nonprofit associations can seek. He said that appears to be the only category where the state would qualify for a grant under the law.

“We really could use help in establishing a juvenile fire setter program,” he said, referring to a prevention program that seeks to work with children who have started fires. “There is a real problem in Maine, but no resources for setting up a program. You can bet I will be looking into that.”

Dean said fire chiefs have applauded the grant program across the state in small towns as well as in the larger departments. He said too many departments rely on bake sales and similar local fund-raising efforts to buy equipment that can help save lives and reduce property damage.

“In my town that is certainly true,” said state Rep. Randy Berry, D-Livermore, co-chairman of the Legislatures Appropriations Committee. He also is fire chief for Livermore’s volunteer department. “For small towns like mine, these grants could be a big help. I would hope the program is continued because I would like to see some chance for some regional training efforts that this could fund.”

He said small, volunteer departments would be hard pressed to draft grant proposals over the next few weeks to meet the filing deadline. He said if the program is not continued, few rural communities will benefit because of the time it takes them to prepare an application.

All four members of the state’s congressional delegation vow to fight for the program. Both senators were co-sponsors of the measure.

“I will fight to make sure we keep our word to firefighters in Maine and throughout the nation with this investment,” said U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, the senior member of the delegation.

“This has broad, bipartisan support,” said U.S. Rep. John Baldacci. “I think you will see this program continued because local fire chiefs like those in Maine and across the country are not going to let it be killed.”

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said she wrote a letter to all fire departments in Maine urging them to apply for the grants, just before President Bush announced his proposal to eliminate the program.

“I respectfully disagree with the president on this one,” she said, “and I will work to keep the program funded next year.”

U.S. Rep. Tom Allen is holding a meeting March 19 at Southern Maine Technical College in South Portland for fire chiefs to hear firsthand from federal officials. He shares the concern that the short application period will cause difficulty for smaller departments.

“That’s one reason for this meeting,” he said. “We want to try to help them be able to turn around these applications in a very short time period.”

Allen, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, said the meeting would also explain how local fire departments could apply for surplus military equipment that may be useful in firefighting.