NATCHEZ &045; For the third year in a row the Natchez Fire Department has received a federal grant to purchase thousands of dollars worth of equipment.

The $46,184 Federal Emergency Management Agency grant is part of $1.5 million that’s headed to 18 Mississippi fire departments.

The department will have to provide a 10 percent match to the money, but it’s well worth it, Chief Paul Johnson said.

&uot;If it wasn’t for that grant, with the way the economy is around here in Natchez, I’d hate to think where we’d be equipment wise,&uot; Johnson said. &uot;As long as I can have the money in my budget to make the match, I’ll keep applying.&uot;

As it is, Johnson said the Natchez department is ahead of many fire departments in equipment quality.

This year’s grant money will be used to purchase updates for air packs. The air packs the department uses were purchased two year’s ago with money from the same grant.

Other grant dollars have gone to all new turnout gear, which replaced 15- to 20-year-old firefighting equipment and for an airflow checking system.

The grant is awarded on a need basis, Johnson said, and fire departments must outline what the money will go to in the application.

&uot;It’s a good thing,&uot; Johnson said. &uot;I just hope we can keep getting it.&uot;

Sens. Trent Lott, Thad Cochran and Rep. Chip Pickering announced the grant recipients Wednesday.

&uot;Providing quality fire and emergency response is a crucial part of any community’s ability to promote public safety, economic development and competitive fire insurance rates,&uot; Lott said in a release. &uot;The Assistance to Firefighters Program has certainly benefited Mississippi, and I will continue to support these types of grant applications submitted by both volunteer and career firefighting operations within Mississippi.&uot;