(Des Moines) The Iowa Department of Natural Resources Forestry – Fire Program, working in coordination with the US Forest Service, has grant money available for Iowa’s rural fire departments to help battle wildfires.
Applications are due on October 15. The grant provides 50 percent reimbursement for wildland fire equipment with a maximum reimbursement grant of $4,500 per department.
The grants offer funding assistance for wildfire suppression equipment, slide-in units, hoses, nozzles, adapters, portable tanks and pumps, personal protective equipment and communications equipment. Additionally, if a fire department has a special need that can be tied directly to wildfire suppression, this grant allows for such special requests.
Fire departments should submit a Wildland Fire Report whenever they respond to a wildland fire or provide assistance to a prescribed or controlled wildland fire. Departments actively returning these reports receive priority points in the Volunteer Fire Assistance grant application scoring process.
All Iowa volunteer fire departments were mailed information about the 2024 Volunteer Fire Assistance Grant. The grant application package and the Wildland Fire Report form are available online at www.iowadnr.gov/fire.
