Minnesota Volunteer Fire Assistance Grants

Grant Details:
Amount: $1000-$5000
Open Date for Application: 04/01/2012
Application Due Date: 06/01/2012

Description: 

General information: The Volunteer Fire Assistance Grant program is a cost-share program. It provides financial and technical assistance to Minnesota fire departments in cities or communities with a population under 10,000. The primary objectives of the program are saving lives and protecting property in rural areas.

Level of assistance: Approximately 220 to 250 grants from $1,000 to $5,000 are awarded in Minnesota annually. The grants are made on a 50:50 match basis. Rural fire departments must use the grant money for fire protection and comply with existing state and county rural fire protection plans.

Priorities: Priority is given to fire departments that have the greatest need. Additional considerations include the type of project, fire runs and number of previous years funded. Fire departments will not receive funding if MFIRS (MN Fire Incident Reporting System) reports are not filed with the State Fire Marshall's Office each year.

Acceptable project examples:

* Establishing a fire department or reorganizing an inactive fire department.
* Conversions of federal excess property vehicles to fire control rigs.
* Communications - warning systems (not sirens on buildings), pagers, radios (must be compatible with the counties' 911 system, must have scanning ability and be multi-channel programmable. One channel must have the state fire mutual aid frequency (154.295 mhz).
* Personal safety equipment (structural and wildland).
* Fire equipment (hose, nozzles, etc.).
* Training.

Grants are not allowed for:

* Building repairs or construction.
* Urban water systems.
* Land acquisitions.
* Routine maintenance of fire equipment, such as tires, batteries, tune ups.
* Equipment not fire related, such as ambulance equipment.
* Purchase of vehicles.
* Used equipment.

How to apply: Grant applications are accepted from eligible Minnesota fire departments from April 1 through June 1 each year. Grant application form This is a PDF file. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to download it.. (Fillable form require Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0 and higher. Save a copy of the form for yourself and send a copy to kristie.prahl@dnr.state.mn.us)

Organization Information:
Organization: Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources
Website: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/

Contact Information:
Contact Name: Kristie Prahl
Contact Email: kristie.prahl@dnr.state.mn.us
Contact Phone: (218) 327-4572

More Information:
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/grants/ruralfire/volunteer.html