Senator Dan Laughlin is encouraging volunteer fire companies serving rural areas and communities with fewer than 10,000 residents and where forest and brush fires are common to apply for grants of up to $10,000 for training and equipment purchases directly related to fighting brush and forest fires.
Funds from the Volunteer Fire Assistance Grant Program, administered by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), may be used for purchasing mobile or portable radios, installing dry hydrants, performing wildfire prevention and mitigation work, training wildfire fighters, or converting and maintaining federal excess vehicles to be used for fire suppression. DCNR is giving priority to requests for projects that include the purchase of wildfire suppression equipment and protective clothing.
Almost $620,000 was awarded in 2019 to more than 130 volunteer fire companies. The grant program, offered through DCNR and paid through federal grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, has awarded more than $13 million since it began in 1982.
Grant applications must be electronically submitted through DCNR’s grant webpage by 4 p.m., May 21. Detailed information about the grant program is available at https://www.grants.dcnr.state.pa.us/Dashboard/VFAGrants.
Contact: Matt Azeles mazeles@pasen.gov