The United States remains, almost four years after the attacks of Sept. 11, vulnerable to terrorism.

While it would be impossible to eliminate every threat, the country has done too little to secure chemical and nuclear power plants, cargo containers streaming through ports or rail lines on which hazardous material is transported.

Instead, the federal government has used homeland security resources to prop up local fire departments.

Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, in a press release announcing more than $3 million in federal grants to Maine, describe firefighters and fire departments as “heroic and indispensable.” They certainly are that, and much more. Firefighters are the very model of community service, performing hundreds of dangerous tasks while still making themselves available for the more mundane – answering questions, pumping water out of basements and teaching kids about fire safety.

There’s no argument that these men and women deserve the support of every level of government. But using homeland security money is the wrong way to go. We are certain that the Kingfield Fire Department does great work; does that qualify it for $152,000 in homeland security funding? No doubt the Sorrento Fire Department can use $256,500, but is it the best place – from a risk standpoint – to spend that money? Or $237,500 for the Clinton Fire Department?

We understand the motivation to make sure Maine gets its piece of the pie. But there are too many significant holes in the country’s security to justify that approach. Making the country safer requires discipline, which includes directing resources where they are needed the most.