Fire Department Gets Grant

The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection today announced it will give the Haddam Volunteer Fire Company a $1,778 Volunteer Fire Assistance Grant, which will be used to train personnel and purchase equipment aimed at improving their firefighting capabilities.  The funds are provided through a federal program to support fire departments in towns with a population of less than 10,000 people. The Haddam department is one of 37 volunteer fire departments that will receive the 2011 funds under the grant program.

Volunteer Fire Assistance funds are authorized annually by Congress.  Funding passes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service to State Forestry offices that award the grants to volunteer firefighter projects statewide. Most of Connecticut’s funds are directed toward small grants of less than $2,500. A portion of the funds are targeted toward special training projects in cooperation with the Connecticut Fire Academy in Windsor Locks.

“Congress has been very supportive of keeping VFA funding in place and the grants help strengthen local volunteer fire departments that play a key role in protecting public safety in our state,” said Daniel C. Esty, the DEEP commissione. “The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is proud to offer this program to small towns in Connecticut and to give them the opportunity to make purchases that may not be funded through their existing budget.”

All projects must be completed by March 2012.  The funding is a matching 50 percent reimbursable grant.

During the past ten years the DEEP’s Division of Forestry has awarded more than $790,000 in Volunteer Fire Assistance funds to eligible fire departments.