Staff report

Four local fire departments received grant funding from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Forestry through the Volunteer Fire Assistance (VFA) grant program.

More than $593,000 was given to 93 fire departments in rural areas of Ohio, including:

• $7,500 to the Braceville Fire Department in Trumbull County for federal excess equipment refurbishment.

• $4,047.66 to the Newton Falls Joint Fire District for MARCS communication devices.

• $9,759 to the Green Township Fire Department in Mahoning County for personal protective equipment and MARCS pagers.

• $8,811.30 to the Jackson Township Volunteer Fire Department, also in Mahoning County, for water supply tools, pumps and weather devices.

“In addition to wildland fire training, this funding helps departments serving Ohio’s wildfire protection area enhance their equipment and operational readiness,” said Dan Balser, chief of the ODNR Division of Forestry. “Investing in local departments strengthens emergency response at the community level.”

VFA grant projects focus on supporting rural fire departments and helping them continue delivering safety services to their communities. VFA grants are open to fire departments composed of at least 80% volunteer firefighters that serve communities with populations of less than 10,000 people within the ODNR Forestry wildfire protection area.

The grant funds may be used by fire departments to purchase all-terrain vehicles, wildfire water tanks and pump units, wildfire and structure fire safety equipment, radios, tools and other items to support fire department operations and development. VFA grants may fund up to 50% of the total project cost, not to exceed $10,000 per grant.

Many rural fire departments in Ohio have tight budgets, and most of their limited resources must be focused on keeping essential emergency services running. ODNR Forestry’s VFA grant program helps supplement fire department budgets and facilitates important purchases, such as firefighter personal protective equipment and basic fire suppression equipment.

VFA grant funding is provided to ODNR Forestry from the USDA Forest Service. Funding for this cycle of VFA grants was sourced from ODNR Forestry’s annual VFA allocation and from additional designated Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funds.