Staff report

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry recently approved grant funding for 77 projects totaling $491,883 for fire departments in rural areas of Ohio.

The money comes through the Volunteer Fire Assistance Grant Program, including several in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties.

“Many rural fire departments in Ohio have tight budgets, and most of their limited resources focus on the crucial task of keeping emergency services up and running,” said Gov. Mike DeWine. “The VFA grant program helps supplement fire department budgets and facilitates important purchases like firefighter personal protective equipment and essential fire suppression equipment.”

VFA grant program projects are focused on supporting rural fire departments and helping them continue to deliver safety services to their communities. VFA grants are open to fire departments within ODNR Forestry Wildfire Protection Areas that serve communities with populations of less than 10,000 people. The VFA grant funds are provided to ODNR Forestry by the USDA Forest Service.

“These fire departments provide critical services to local communities by protecting the people and the forests they serve,” said Dan Balser, chief of the ODNR Division of Forestry. “We are pleased to help fire departments by providing the necessary training and equipment needed to perform their jobs.”

Fire departments may use the grant funds to purchase UTVs, slip-in wildfire pump units, wildfire and structure fire personal protective equipment (PPE), MARCS (Multi-Agency Radio Communication System) radios, tools and other items to support fire department operations and development. VFA grants may fund up to 50 percent of the total project cost, not to exceed $10,000 per grant.

Mahoning County fire departments receiving funding are:

• Beloit — $4,350 for a slip-in unit;

• Coitsville — $1,854.04 for wildland fire PPE and tools;

• Damascus — $4,920 for structure fire PPE;

• Green Township — $8,554.50 for MARCS radios and fire PPE;

• Jackson Township — $5,000 for wildfire tools and supplies for brush truck;

• Lowellville — $4,354 for MARCS radios;

• Milton Township — $1,099 for wildland fire tools.

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