INDIANA – According to a press release from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, a total of 100 rural and volunteer fire departments from 54 Indiana counties have been awarded $453,386 in Volunteer Fire Assistance Capacity (VFC) awards from the Indiana DNR.
The awards will be used for training, radios, or to purchase necessary firefighting equipment and gear to combat wildland fires. The grants are administered by the DNR Division of Forestry and made available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service.
Recipients were selected based on population density, acres of public lands protected, and wildland fire reporting to DNR Fire Control Headquarters. As in past years, emphasis was given to projects that involved the fighting of wildfires.
The awarded grants range from $1,090 to $5,000.
Several of our own tri-county area fire departments will benefit from these grants, including:
- Lacrosse VFD, LaPorte, $5,000, Communication (Radios or Pagers)
- Lincoln Twp. VFD (Walkerton) , LaPorte, $5,000, Safety (SCBA, Turn-Out Gear, PASS etc.)
- Noble Twp. VFD (Union Mills) , LaPorte, $5,000, Safety (SCBA, Turn-Out Gear, PASS etc.)
- Scipio Twp. VFD, LaPorte, $5,000, Wildland Firefighting Assistance
- Springfield Twp. VFD Inc, LaPorte, $5,000, Safety (SCBA, Turn-Out Gear, PASS etc.)
- Westville VFD, LaPorte, $5,000, Fire Prevention \ Education
- Francesville VFD, Pulaski, $5,000, Training
- Medaryville-White Post FD, Pulaski, $4,000, Safety (SCBA, Turn-Out Gear, PASS etc.)
- Knox-Center Twp. Fire Dept., Starke, $3,250, Water Handling
- Koontz Lake VFD, Starke, $5,000, Safety (SCBA, Turn-Out Gear, PASS etc.)
- San Pierre Twp. VFD, Starke, $5,000, Safety (SCBA, Turn-Out Gear, PASS etc.)
