The $26,938 awared was announced Fri.,Feb. 9. Solway was on of 391 fire departments and first responder organizations to receive part of the $34,562,495 in direct assistance grants.

Solway will use the money for Operations and Safety.

In January 2007 Solway received $110,818 from the DHS. About $75,000 of that will be used to purchase new Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA)and a new air bottle fill station for the department.

The new tanks will hold three times the amount of air as the old ones. The outmoded tanks held 15 minutes of air compared to 45 minutes of oxygen.

Up to $30,000 will be used for training the 20-member department. Additional money from the grant will be used to get the appropriate gear to fight grass fires that will increase mobility of individual firefighters, Fire Chief Wayne Suliin explained.

The department covers 36 square miles and responds to about 75 calls a year.