"We're light-years ahead of where were in 1998," said Ray DeMichiei, Pittsburgh's deputy director for emergency management. "We had (radiation) equipment, but they were leftovers from the Civil Defense era. Three Mile Island was the last time we had a spike in RAD stuff."

Pennsylvania got more than $108 million in homeland security money during 2004 and 2005, placing it among the top seven states each year. New York, California and Texas received the most during the period.

Earlier this year, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency granted the media access to documents detailing purchases since 1999, but PEMA refused to say where the equipment went, citing security concerns.

Region 13 officials provided a partial list of equipment purchases, saying some information needed to be withheld for security reasons.

Local officials have used the new equipment while responding to a train derailment in January in East Deer; an estimated 1,000 white powder scares across the region since 9/11; flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Ivan in 2004; a hepatitis A outbreak in 2003 in Beaver County; and the 2002 Quecreek Mine collapse in Somerset County.

"The equipment is not sitting here waiting to be utilized in that one-in-a-million (terrorist) case," Full said.

Shortly after its founding in 1998, Region 13 committed to buying the same equipment for first responders -- including police, firefighters and EMS units -- to make joint operations run more smoothly and to establish a regional mutual-aid plan, Full said.

"On a moment's notice in any major emergency, we could send any equipment across (county) lines to assist," he said.

For example, 75 percent of the calls the Allegheny County bomb robot responds to are outside the county, Region 13 Equipment Coordinator Alan Hausman said. Similarly, if Allegheny County needs assistance -- as it did during the Ivan flooding in September 2004 -- first responders from other counties reciprocate.

The federal government distributes homeland security money to states based on population. Next year's allocation will factor in which areas face the greatest threat of attack, a move endorsed by U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Swissvale, although it could mean fewer dollars for Pennsylvania.

"The money should go where the risk is. The idea that every congressional district should get homeland security money probably isn't valid," Doyle said. "Having said all that, I think Southwestern Pennsylvania has a key role to play because of our strategic location (to New York City and Washington, D.C.).

"We may not be No. 1 on the hit list, but we are in close proximity to the No. 1 and 2 targets in the country."

Pennsylvania allocates money to its task forces based on population, with consideration given to threats to power plants and sports stadiums, according to PEMA spokeswoman Maria Smith.

Region 13 also weighs population and threat of attack when considering first responders' requests, DePalma said.

Unlike other states, Pennsylvania has allocated every dollar it has received within the specified spending period, Smith said. No audit has been done on the state's homeland security spending, she said.

In addition to awarding grants to improve security, the Department of Homeland Security has operated the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program since 2001. It awards money to fire departments for equipment and fire prevention.

No state has received a greater number of fire grants or more money in the past four years than Pennsylvania, where fire departments got more than $114 million. The state is on pace to lead the country again this year with more than $35 million in grants.

Harmar Volunteer Fire Company Chief Mike Liko said his department -- the only one to receive a grant each of the program's first four years -- used the money to buy hoses, rescue equipment, a rescue truck and radios.

"With the economy being the way it is, and people not giving a donation to the volunteer fire service like they used to, it's tough to make ends meet," said Liko, whose department applied for but was denied a fifth grant this year.

"These grants enable a fire company such as ours to purchase fire equipment. Without them, we would probably still be in the 19th and 20th centuries."

Before 2005, the Butler Bureau of Fire had received the most money -- almost $425,000 from three grants -- of any department in Region 13.

The Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire, however, received a $537,000 grant earlier this year, the largest award for any department in the state thus far.

Fire grants nationwide went from $92 million in 2001 to $684 million in 2004, but dropped this year to $650 million.

"When you say 'homeland security,' you're thinking terrorist and bombs and stuff," Liko said. "But terrorism is a broad field. It can be a chemical attack, a nuclear attack. It can be just about anything you think of."