The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is offering rural volunteer fire departments a share of $640,000 in grant funding to help control wildfires.
The matching 50/50 funds program is designed to assist DEC forest rangers who often work closely with the volunteer firefighters to protect communities and properties. Some of the required qualifications for the grant are:
- Must be a fire department working in a rural area or rural community with a population of 10,000 or less, under the latest census.
- Area fire departments, fire districts, townships, etc. may work with a population of greater than 10,000 but the service area of the fire department includes a rural area or rural community with a population of 10,000 or less. The funding must be used to benefit the rural population.
Under the program rules, only $1,500 of qualifying wildfire suppression equipment can be purchased. If interested, the application can be found of the DEC's volunteer Fire Assistance Grant page.
