KNOXVILLE, Pa. (WETM) — The Knoxville-Deerfield Volunteer Fire Company has announced that the company will be receiving funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The company will be getting a total of $93,359 from a FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant. The fire company plans to use these funds to purchase new self-contained breathing apparatuses (SCBAs). According to the fire company, their current SCBAs are old, outdated, and unreliable. All of the funding will go towards purchasing 11 new SCBAs, which cost around $8,500 each.

After the grants were announced, U.S. Senator Bob Casey Jr. paid a visit to the fire company. Casey told the firefighters that he and his colleagues in Congress know how important the Assistance to Firefighters Grants are for small-town fire departments. Casey assured the firefighters that he will do everything in his power to make sure that fire departments like the Knoxville-Deerfield Volunteer Fire Company will continue to receive federal funding.

This year is the fifth time that the Knoxville-Deerfield Volunteer Fire Company was awarded funding from FEMA. FEMA began giving Assistance to Firefighters Grants to first responders in 2001 and has awarded over $258.5 million to agencies since then.