Patrick-Murray Administration Awards Volunteer Fire Grant to Dover

On Friday, Jan. 6, Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Commissioner Edward M. Lambert, Jr. will present the first in a series of 2011 Volunteer Fire Assistance Grants to the four towns Dover, Freetown, Edgartown and Gosnold.

During the month of January, 51 grants – totaling nearly $80,000 – will be awarded to communities across the state.

In support of the Patrick-Murray Administration’s commitment to public safety, the grants are designed to assist the state’s smaller municipalities by aiding their volunteer fire departments in management efforts, supply and equipment purchases, and enhancing their ability to protect the Commonwealth’s forest resources.

The Volunteer Fire Assistance Program is authorized by the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978. This grant was offered to all non-profit rural and volunteer fire departments that provide service primarily to a community or city with a population of 10,000 or less. Fire departments must be made up of at least 80 percent call or volunteer firefighters and be recognized as a department under state law.

Eligible proposed projects are those within firefighter safety, technology transfer and rural fire defense. High-risk communities adjacent to federal lands, those communities working in partnership with federal firefighting agencies in responding to wildland fires and high risk communities within the state not associated with federal lands are considered for award.

Funding for Volunteer Fire Assistance grants is provided by the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service and administered by the DCR’s Forest Fire Control Bureau on a 50 percent reimbursement basis. Reimbursement amounts cap at $2,000 per community.