The Onalaska Fire Department recently made the pages of The Washington Times — and not in a good way.

An April 21 story in the Times had this first paragraph: “Fire departments are using Homeland Security grants to buy gym equipment, sponsor puppet and clown shows, and turn first responders into fitness trainers.”
Onalaska was the “puppet and clown shows” entry.

In defense of the Onalaska Fire Department, the grant is not as ridiculous as it sounds.

Here are the facts of the matter: The Onalaska Fire Department was given a 2005 Assistance to Firefighters grant of $7,783 from the U.S. Fire Administration, a part of the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Domestic Preparedness. The money will be used for equipment support for the fire department’s fire-safety presentations that are aimed at children.

The department brings children into the fire station each fall for fire safety programs involving clowns and puppets. The goal is to explain fire safety in a way that young children will understand.

That’s a worthy goal, but is it “homeland security” in the way we have thought about it since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001?

Of course not. The Homeland Security Department is supposed to make us safer as a nation. Instead of that, however, some of the department’s money is used as a standard grant program — which may or may not get us closer to where we need to be to prevent and combat terrorism.

I would think that from the government’s standpoint, updating port security would be one of the highest priorities. We have no idea what is coming into this country in most shipping containers.

Instead, we’re diverting $25 million from the $545 million homeland security budget in order to fund physical fitness programs for emergency workers in Plantation City, Fla., provide breast cancer screening in Rockland County, N.Y. — and offer clown and puppet shows in Des Moines, Iowa, and Onalaska.

It’s not the fault of Onalaska or Des Moines or Plantation City. All of those things those communities are doing are worthy causes. The issue is the lack of focus on the part of federal officials — and particularly Congress, which has a giveaway mentality when it comes to sending money back home.

Is the United States safer because the La Crosse County Sheriff’s Department has an $180,000 armored car sitting in its garage? That was an earlier federal grant; similar vehicles were given to other Wisconsin communities.

One would think that homeland security efforts would target the most likely places for terrorist attack.

I don’t think we qualify for that.

Local law enforcement might really be able to use an armored car, and local children certainly could use fire-safety training offered in an entertaining way.

But it’s not homeland security — not by a long shot.

Call Opinion page editor Richard Mial at (608) 791-8232, or contact him by e-mail at rmial@lacrossetribune.com.

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