Congressman Eric Sorensen Announces Over $3 Million in Grant Funding for Peoria Fire Department

PEORIA, IL - Congressman Eric Sorensen (IL-17) is proud to announce the City of Peoria has been awarded $3,036,362 through FEMA's Fiscal Year 2024 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program.

The funding will support the hiring of firefighters, helping Peoria maintain adequate staffing levels and ensuring faster, more effective emergency response for the community.

"Our firefighters are essential to the safety of Peoria families," said Congressman Sorensen. "This grant will help the city recruit and retain the personnel needed to keep our community safe."

"The City of Peoria IL Fire Department is excited to receive the notification from the FEMA SAFER grant program on our much-needed award and successful grant application. With the SAFER grant, the City of Peoria is able to hire eleven firefighters and sufficiently staff our three aerial trucks. Thank you to all of our federal legislators, especially Congressman Sorensen, for keeping the FEMA SAFER and AFG grant mechanisms properly funded. This grant award will have a tremendous impact not only for our Peoria community, but our responding firefighters on a daily basis." said Peoria Fire Chief, Shawn Sollberger.

FEMA completed awarding FY24 fire grants in September 2025, with recipients now posted publicly on the agency's website. These programs provide critical support to fire departments and communities across the country.