HARRISBURG – Gov. Edward G. Rendell has announced that almost $560,000 in federal grant funds are available once again to help Pennsylvania’s rural communities better guard against fires in forested, undeveloped and unprotected areas.
“One only has to look back a few weeks to the deadly brush fires in Australia to understand and appreciate the value of having well-trained, well-equipped local firefighting forces in rural areas,” said Rendell. “Here at home, many brave volunteers faithfully answer the call to battle brush and forest fires across Pennsylvania. These men and women deserve nothing but the very best training and equipment these grants help achieve.”
Grants and other assistance are offered annually through the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, with funds provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. The funds are made available through the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978.
A total of $559,200 in federal funds is being made available to Pennsylvania volunteers this year. Nearly 200 fire companies across the state were helped with grants through the program in 2008.
More than $7.5 million has been awarded since 1982.
“Last spring was a very busy season for the Bureau of Forestry, which is responsible for protecting our state woodlands from fire,” said DCNR Secretary Michael DiBerardinis. “These grants play an important role in helping to better organize, train and equip local firefighting forces in rural areas.
“As development continues to encroach upon large, forested tracts, the number of homes and communities in Pennsylvania’s wooded and rural areas continues to grow each year, and so, too, does the threat of wildfires,” added DiBerardinis.
The Bureau of Forestry is accepting grant applications beginning today. Grant applications must be received at the Harrisburg headquarters of DCNR’s Bureau of Forestry by 4 p.m. on Friday, May 1.
Grant applications may also be filed online at www.dcnr.state.pa.us; click on “Grants,” then “Volunteer Fire Assistance.”
In reviewing applications, the bureau will place priority on those requests seeking funds for projects that include the purchase of wildfire suppression equipment and protective clothing.
Grants also may be used for mobile or portable radios, installation of dry hydrants, wildfire prevention and mitigation, wildfire fighter training, or conversion and maintenance of federal excess vehicles received from the bureau to be used for fire suppression
Overseen by DCNR’s Bureau of Forestry, aid is granted on a cost-share basis. 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 that will be considered from any fire company in 2009 is $7,500. All items approved for purchase under the 2008 fiscal year program must be purchased between Oct. 1, 2008, and Nov. 30, 2009.
Grant applications and more information also may be obtained from the Bureau of Forestry’s Division of Forest Fire Protection. Contact Forest Program Specialist Charles C. Choplick at (717) 787-2925, or cchoplick@state.pa.us; or visit www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/ffp/index.aspx.