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The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has awarded $495,000 in federal grants to 73 volunteer fire departments across the state through its ‘Volunteer Fire Capacity’ grant program. The funding, which comes through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, is intended to help rural departments purchase new equipment and cover the cost of fire training. Here locally, tight budgets are all too common and this grant serves to help ease those financial constraints.
A number of local departments are among the recipients. In Coles County, the Lincoln Fire Protection District received $8,861. In Douglas County, the Tuscola Fire Department landed the maximum award of $10,000. In Effingham County, four departments received funding: Montrose Fire Protection District received $4,568, Teutopolis Fire Protection District received $5,367.50, Tri-County Fire Protection District received $9,958, and Watson Fire Protection District received $4,908. In Moultrie County, the Sullivan Fire Protection District received $5,342.40. In Shelby County, the Oconee Fire Department received $7,000. And in Piatt County, both Mid-Piatt Fire Protection District and the Monticello Fire and Rescue Department received awards of $10,000 and $6,193.50 respectively.
The grant program reimburses up to 50% of a department’s projected costs up to a maximum of $10,000, meaning departments must front the money before being reimbursed. Previous grants have funded everything from radios and hoses to self-contained breathing apparatus, turnout gear, chainsaws, and protective equipment for wildland firefighting.
The 73 departments receiving grants this year collectively serve around 250,000 Illinois residents, the majority of them in lesser populated areas. Last year the program awarded just under $323,000 to 48 projects, so this year’s round of grants proves to be a significant expansion in both funding and overall reach.
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