CITGO Lemont Refinery Awards Grants To Lockport Fire, Police

LOCKPORT, IL — The CITGO Lemont Refinery has announced it will award first responder grants to nearby communities, including one for the Lockport Township Fire Protection District and Lockport Police Department. The CAER First Responder Grant Program was started in 2021 by the CITGO Community Awareness Emergency Response (CAER) Council, the refinery said.

“We appreciate what our local first responders do for our community, and we are excited to be able to continue this grant program,” Dennis Willig, CITGO Lemont Vice President and General Manager, said in a release.

Lockport Township Fire Protection District will receive a grant for a new confined space supplied air system, while Lockport Police Department will receive a grant for new digital speed signs in an effort to increase awareness and prevent traffic incidents, according to CITGO.

Agencies in Lemont and Romeoville also received grants from the refinery.

The CITGO Lemont Refinery CAER Council was formed back in 2002 to share information and increase understanding and cooperation between CITGO, community leaders, and communities regarding safety, the environment and emergency response, according to CITGO. The council is made up of police, fire, and other community leaders in addition to refinery leadership and meets quarterly to share important information.

CAER has been such a success that the CITGO Corpus Christi Refinery in Texas has started their own CAER group based on Lemont’s model.