On July 20, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources announced the award of $591,975 in federally funded grants to support local volunteer fire companies to help them fight wildfires across the state.

 “Weather can be friend or foe in our wildfire prevention and suppression efforts, but DCNR has no stronger ally -- especially during these most difficult times of the pandemic -- than the men and women of the volunteer fire companies serving rural areas and communities where forest and brush fires are common,” said Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn. “These funds will benefit 109 volunteer fire companies throughout the state.

“To appreciate the value of well-equipped and highly trained wildfire fighters, one only has to look outside Pennsylvania to the horrific fires that sometimes plague other states.”

Fire Commissioner Bruce Trego praised volunteer fire companies’ service to communities close to home, as well as those members who often join Bureau of Forestry crews battling wildfires far beyond Pennsylvania’s borders.

“The dangers associated with wildfires continue to pose a growing threat to our state’s forests and rural communities,” Trego said. “Grant programs like these are vital tools for state government to ensure volunteer firefighters get the equipment and the training they need to perform their jobs as professionally and safely as possible.”   

Both Trego and Dunn noted the readiness of volunteer fire companies is demonstrated every spring and summer when they answer assistance calls coming from other states, while also responding regularly to local woodland and brush fires.

They noted the wildfire grants help enable smaller companies to concentrate more on public safety and training while easing their fiscal constraints. 

In 2019, more than $617,800 was awarded to 133 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 $14.5 million since it began in 1982. 

Click Here for a list of grants awarded.

Local firefighting forces in communities with fewer than 10,000 residents qualify for this grant program, which is used for training and equipment purchases directly related to fighting brush and forest fires.

Grants may be used for purchasing mobile or portable radios; installing water supply equipment; wildfire prevention and mitigation work; training wildfire fighters; or converting and maintaining federal excess vehicles. 

The key objective is to better equip and train volunteers to save lives and protect property in unprotected or inadequately protected rural areas. Grant recipients are selected based on vulnerability and adequacy of existing fire protection. 

Aid is granted on a cost-share basis, with recipients supplying matching funds. Grants for any project during a fiscal year cannot exceed 50 percent of the actual expenditures of local, public and private nonprofit organizations in the agreement. The maximum grant awarded any fire company in 2019 was $10,000.

For more on wildfires in Pennsylvania, visit DCNR’s Wildfire webpage and the Resources for Volunteer Fire Companies webpage.

Related Article:

20-Person DCNR Wildfire Crew Called To Fight Wildland Fires In Colorado, Wyoming

[Posted: July 21, 200]

7/27/2020