Dec. 11 (UPI) — President Joe Biden will visit the Philadelphia Fire Department on Monday to announce $22.4 million in federal funds to boost firefighter salaries and benefits, while facilitating the reopening of three shuttered fire stations in the region.
As part of the grant, Biden will announce the return of firefighting services to Engine 6 in Fishtown, Ladder 1 in Fairmount, and Ladder 11 in South Philadelphia, which all have been shut down for more than a decade.
Biden will arrive and deliver remarks beginning at 12:30 p.m. EST.
The president will be joined by Gov. Josh Shapiro, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, and Fire Commissioner Adam K. Thiel. International Fire Fighters President Ed Kelly, and U.S. Fire Administrator Lori Moore-Merrell, are also expected to attend.
The multi-million dollar grant is provided through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s SAFER program, which delivers money to fire departments and volunteer firefighter groups to help them continue to deliver a new crop of firefighter trainees nationwide.
The latest grant will also cover the cost of reopening the three stations while providing funds to pay 72 firefighters over three years, as well as supporting a new class of trainees to join the Philadelphia Fire Academy.
During the visit, Biden will also pay tribute to a family of 12, including nine children, who were killed when a Christmas tree ignited a fire that engulfed a row house in Fairmont late last year.
On a prior visit, Biden learned that Ladder 1 in Fairmount, which was decommissioned in 2008, could have potentially saved more lives if it had been available at the time of the deadly inferno as it was located only a mile away.
Mike Bresnan, the fire chief of Philadelphia’s IAFF Local 22, said Sunday that Biden had “kept his word” after he urged the president to allocate federal resources to put the station back in service following the tragedy.
“It’s just unfortunate that it happened in the first place,” Bresnan told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “But one thing about [Biden]: He cares for people. You can see that.”
Four years ago, Bresnan’s union drew attention by endorsing President Donald Trump for reelection despite disagreements with the larger national firefighters union. The endorsement sparked a lawsuit challenging the process and seeking Bresnan’s removal, but the case was eventually dismissed in April 2021.
So far, the local union has not endorsed a candidate for 2024 after the national union went with Biden in 2020.
Meanwhile, the two other stations being resurrected, Engine 6 and Ladder 11, were both shut down more than 14 years ago under the administration of former Mayor Michael Nutter as the city faced a massive budget shortfall amid the Great Recession.
Biden’s American Rescue Plan included $350 billion for cities and states to pay firefighter salaries, while additional legislation signed last year provides individual FEMA assistance grants of $360 million under the SAFER program.
Biden has made numerous trips to Philadelphia throughout 2023 as the president prioritizes major policy actions in the crucial battleground ahead of the 2024 election.
In October, the president traveled to Philadelphia to announce $7 billion in federal funds to boost climate efforts in the battleground of Pennsylvania.
In July, Biden also showed up at a Philadelphia shipyard to announce the construction of a new offshore wind vessel as part of the administration’s continued push on manufacturing and clean energy.
Philadelphia was also the site where Biden unveiled his federal budget in March during a speech that called on Congress to support his plan to extend Medicare and Social Security and reduce the deficit by raising taxes on wealthy Americans.
In February, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Philadelphia to announce $500 million in federal infrastructure funds to help fix the city’s broken water system amid a nationwide effort to dismantle lead pipes.
Later in the day, Biden planned to attend a campaign reception in Philadelphia, the White House said.
