"The grant program has become more all-hazards," said Russ Fillmore, financial officer for the Division of Emergency Services and Homeland Security. "There have been some big natural disasters, and (The U.S. Department of) Homeland Security has wanted the local agencies to be able to better respond to those disasters."

While there are always more things that the department needs, the "money really helped us get things that could have taken years" if funded through the local governments, Cache County Chief Deputy Sheriff Dave Bennett said. More important, the flexibility of the funding allows departments to purchase equipment tailored to their needs and to also address their response ability for the most realistic disasters.

"In Cache Valley, we're not expecting the next terrorist attack to hit here," he said. "But it's not all about terrorism; it's also about natural disasters or other things that really could hit us."

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E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com; bbjr@desnews.com