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ALN 97.044

Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program

AFG funds fire departments, nonaffiliated EMS organizations and state fire academies for operations and safety (PPE, equipment, training, wellness, facility modifications) and vehicle acquisition. Half of each application's score comes from an electronic pre-score against FEMA's published priorities; the top-ranked applications then go to a peer review panel that scores four 4,000-character narratives equally. Vehicle requests are limited to 25% of available funds.

Draft this applicationOfficial program page

Program facts

Agency
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Grant Programs Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Assistance Listing
97.044
Statutory authority
Section 33 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974, as amended (15 U.S.C. 2229)
Award ceiling
Population-based: up to $1 million for jurisdictions of 100,000 or fewer, $2 million for 100,001 to 500,000, and $2.91 million above that, with statutory waivers up to $6 million or $9 million for the largest jurisdictions
Awards
The FY2025 NOFO made $291.6 million available for about 1,800 awards; FEMA announced FY2025 awards on September 30, 2026
Period of performance
24 months
Cost share
Cash match of 5% (population 20,000 or fewer), 10% (20,001 to 1,000,000) or 15% (over 1,000,000); in-kind match not allowed; economic hardship waivers available
Cycle
AFG application windows have recently opened 10 to 18 months after the fiscal year they fund: the FY2025 period ran May 19 to June 22, 2026. The FY2026 NOFO had not posted as of October 2026

Program goals

  • Equip and train emergency personnel to meet recognized standards
  • Provide compliant personal protective equipment and safety gear
  • Improve firefighter health, wellness and cancer prevention
  • Replace or acquire apparatus to improve response capability

Scoring rubric

Criterion100 pts

  • Financial need25

    Budget constraints, the department's revenue sources, failed attempts to find other funding, and proof that the financial distress is beyond the department's control.

  • Project description and budget25

    Project objectives tied to the budget, a risk analysis, and expenses linked to operations, safety and recognized standards such as NFPA.

  • Cost benefit25

    How the request meets operational and safety needs cost-effectively, including asset sharing, regional use and reasonable overhead.

  • Statement of effect on operations25

    How often and how the items will be used, improvements to daily operations and risk reduction, and the benefit to the community's life and property protection.

From the FY2025 AFG NOFO: each narrative is worth 25% of the peer review score, and the peer review score is half of the total. The other half is the electronic pre-score against Appendix B priorities, which is not shown here.

Eligibility

  • Career, combination and volunteer fire departments
  • Nonaffiliated EMS organizations (capped at 2% of funds)
  • State Fire Training Academies designated as the sole fire service training agency for the state
  • Regional applications hosted by an eligible applicant on behalf of partner departments
  • Airport and port authority fire or EMS organizations only with a formal first-due arrangement outside their facilities

Required attachments

  • Online application in FEMA GO, including department characteristics, call volume and activity-specific request details
  • Four narrative statements: financial need, project description and budget, cost benefit, statement of effect on operations
  • Budget with line items matching the request details
  • Cost share plan; economic hardship waiver request if applicable
  • Vehicle-specific information (age, mileage, NFPA compliance) for vehicle acquisition requests
  • SAM.gov registration and UEI

Formatting rules

  • Each narrative is limited to 4,000 characters including spaces and punctuation
  • Narratives must be original; FEMA screens for copied sentences and inaccurate statistics and may disqualify applicants
  • Request details and budget must comply with program guidance and statutory limits because they drive the pre-score

Why applications lose points

  • Requesting items that are not high priority in Appendix B, which keeps the application below the peer review cutoff
  • Financial need sections that describe general budget pressure without specific figures
  • Reusing narrative text from a previous year or another department, which can lead to disqualification
  • Call volume and population data that do not match NFIRS or census records
  • Exceeding the population-based award cap or vehicle limits

How ELIXIR CONSUMERS helps with FEMA AFG

  1. 1.Drafts each narrative to the 4,000-character limit and shows a live character count
  2. 2.Pulls call volume, run data and budget figures from your NFIRS exports and adopted budgets so the numbers match across sections
  3. 3.Checks each request against the current Appendix B priority list before you spend time on narratives
  4. 4.Keeps narrative text original per year and flags reused passages from earlier submissions
How the NOFO Parser works

More public safety breakdowns

Questions, answered

Do narratives matter if the pre-score is half the total?

Yes. Only applications with the highest pre-scores reach peer review, and the panel's narrative score determines the other half of the ranking.

Can we use in-kind contributions for the cost share?

No. AFG cost share must be cash. Economic hardship waivers are available for qualifying applicants.

When will the next AFG open?

FEMA has not announced the FY2026 window as of October 2026. Recent cycles opened in late spring with a window of about five weeks.

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