COLUMBUS —The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry approved grant funding for 85 projects totaling over $549,000 for fire departments in rural Ohio via the Volunteer Fire Assistance Grant Program.
ODNR Forestry’s VFA Grant Program provides supplemental funding to fire departments that serve communities with populations under 10,000 people within the ODNR Division of Forestry Wildfire Protection Areas. Many rural fire departments face limited resources, and these grants support critical emergency services.
VFA grants can be used for firefighter personal protective equipment, essential fire suppression equipment, utility task vehicles, slip-in wildfire pump units, radios, tools and more. VFA grants may fund up to 50% of the total project cost, not to exceed $10,000 per grant.
These VFA grant funds are provided to ODNR Forestry by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. The funding from this cycle of VFA grants is sourced from ODNR Forestry’s annual VFA allocation and additional designated federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation funds.
