Fire Protection Grants
The Volunteer Fire Assistance Grant program is made possible by the Federal Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978. The grant is a 50/50 matching funds program. Its purpose is to make funds available to rural fire companies for the purchase of small equipment such as portable backpack pumps, Nomex protective clothing, hand tools, hardhats, small diameter hose, portable radios and dry hydrants.
A fire company's success or failure in receiving a grant is based on a rating system with points received for:
- Low Population (ex: under 1,000=10 points; 1,000-2,000=9 points, 2,000-3,000=8 points, etc.)
- The Companies Insurance Services Office rating (I.S.O.) (ex: a rating of 9 = 10 points; 5/9 = 5 points; 8 or less = 1 point)
- A newly organized company = 10 points.
- A Native American community in the protection area = 10 points.
- One point is given for each application submission. The points are cumulative until a grant is received.
Points are deducted on a pro-rated basis from the total of these five factors if a grant was awarded to the fire company within the last five years. Only one application per local jurisdiction will be considered.
Applications will be available in the spring. Fire officials should watch the local news papers for a news release or contact the local Forest Ranger or DEC office on or about March 15 of each year. There is about a 45 day application period. Awards are made in early June and must be completed no later than September 30, of that year. Applications forms can be downloaded from the PDF file at the top of the page.
Contact the nearest DEC office for further details.
More about Fire Protection Grants:
- Volunteer Fire Assistance Grants - Letter to fire chiefs about the volunteer fire assistance grant
