CITGO Lemont Refinery Awards Grants To Romeoville Fire, Police

ROMEOVILLE, IL — The CITGO Lemont Refinery has announced it will award first responder grants to nearby communities, including one for the Romeoville Fire Department and one for Romeoville 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.

In Romeoville, a grant will fund paramedic school for two students through the Romeoville Fire Department, according to CITGO. The Romeoville Police Department will also receive a grant to fund a mobile security camera system.

Agencies in Lockport 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.