Local volunteer fire departments win grants

BY PORTSIA SMITH

Six local volunteer fire departments have been awarded grants from the Virginia Department of Forestry.

The grants, totaling more than $191,000, are part of the Volunteer Fire Assistance program. They were among 122 given to volunteer fire departments across the state.

Regional recipients include the Frog Level Volunteer Fire Department in Caroline County; the Little Fork, Rapidan and Reva volunteer fire departments in Culpeper County; and the Bumpass and Locust Creek departments in Louisa County.

The grants range from $250 to $2,500 and can be used for personal protective equipment, communications gear, water tanks for brush trucks, wild land fire specialty tools and training materials.

“The VFA program provides vital funding to the many volunteer fire departments that assist us with the suppression of wildfires across the state,” John Miller, director of Virginia Department of Forestry’s resource protection division, said in a news release.

“This money helps volunteer fire departments purchase much-needed equipment that provides for the safety of both the public and these volunteer firefighters. I only wish we had enough funding to support all their needs.”

Requests of support totaled nearly $735,000 from 145 fire departments, but the Department of Forestry had only $191,688 to give this year.

Since the program started in 1975, the Department of Forestry has awarded more than $3 million to volunteer fire departments in the commonwealth.

Permalink: http://news.fredericksburg.com/newsdesk/2012/06/23/local-volunteer-fire-departments-win-grants/