Mayor Jon Mitchell spent the day in Washington seeking Federal funding to help support the New Bedford Fire Department.

Mitchell tells WBSM News, he met with the administrator of the so-called "Safer" Grant program, making a case for two more years of funding to support 21 firefighter positions.

"What the Federal Government is looking for is a city's ability to ween itself off federal grants. In other words, we need to have a sustainable plan for paying for fire services in our city, like every other city, and we're doing that," said Mitchell.

If approved, New Bedford would receive its third Safer Grant. Several years ago, New Bedford received a grant to fund 70 firefighter positions, and then 60 positions, and now is seeking around $4 million to fund 21 positions over the next two years.

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