Kansas Volunteer Fire Assistance Program

Grant Details:
Application Due Date: April 2012 est

Description: 

The purpose of the Volunteer Fire Assistance (VFA) Program, is to provide Federal financial, technical, and other assistance to State Foresters and other appropriate officials to organize, train and equip fire departments in rural areas and rural communities to prevent and suppress fires. A rural community is defined as having 10,000 or less population.

Applications for a VFA grant may be placed for virtually any type of fire prevention or suppression equipment such as SCBA, bunker gear, wildfire gear, hose, nozzles, tools, etc. The rules of the program are basically four in number.

1. VFA purchases have to be fire related. Medical equipment or gear and rescue and extrication tools
may not be purchased using VFA funding.

2. Structural equipment purchases are not specifically prohibited, however they may not rank as high as wildland equipment. Applications for funding to convert FEPP equipment is allowed, and may be used in a variety of areas such as adding tanks, pumps and fire suppression equipment. The purchase of wildfire or urban interface apparatus, tools and appliances is encouraged.

3. VFA funding is not authorized for purchase, construction, or renovation of capital improvements such as fire stations or pressurized water systems.

4. Training material may be purchased utilizing VFA funds.

5. No single unit will be granted an award if one half is over $4999.00. Example: a skid unit costing $11,000 may not be funded, but if the pump, tank, plumbing, etc are purchased individually, it could be funded, provided all checks and invoices are provided. The maximum award is $9999.00.

If there are questions about whether the project or equipment purchases meets the guidelines of the VFA program, all the State Office or see “Where Can I Find . .?”, near the end of this guide. The entire VFA desk guide is also available online at http://www.kansasforests.org/pubs/fire/vfaguide.pdf

Application

Organization Information:
Organization: Kansas Forest Service
Website: http://www.kansasforests.org

Contact Information:
Contact Name: Ross Hauck
Contact Email: rhauck@ksu.edu
Contact Phone: (785) 532-3314

More Information:
http://www.kansasforests.org/pubs/fire/vfaguide.pdf