Easton Fire Department Scores DEEP Grant

EASTON, CT — The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection today announced that the Easton Fire Department has been awarded a grant of $1,857.60. Statewide, $105,393.76 was awarded to 46 local volunteer fire companies.

The 2023 Volunteer Fire Assistance Grants will be used to train personnel and purchase equipment aimed at improving their firefighting capabilities. These funds are provided through a federal program to support fire departments in towns with a population of less than 10,000 people.

These grants play a key role in increasing Connecticut’s wildfire preparedness, which is important in a changing climate, according to a news release from DEEP.

DEEP trains and leads the Connecticut Interstate Fire Crew, which provides international fire response and a crew who is prepared to address in-state fire threats that may occur.

"This grant program provides such a critical service to the brave men and women in small volunteer fire departments around the state," said DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes. "

Since 2001, Congress has annually authorized Volunteer Fire Assistance funds under the Farm Bill. Funding passes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service to state forestry offices who award the grants to volunteer firefighter projects statewide. Most of Connecticut’s funds are directed toward small grants that do not exceed $2,500. A small portion of the funds are targeted toward special training projects in cooperation with the Connecticut Fire Academy in Windsor Locks.

All projects must be completed by Aug. 28, 2024. The funding is a matching 50 percent reimbursable grant. After the fire department spends the funds, they will be reimbursed up to 50 percent, not to exceed $2,500.

In the past 10 years, DEEP’s Division of Forestry has awarded more than $770,000 dollars in VFA funds to eligible fire departments.

Fire department applications are scored using the following criteria:

• Number of calls the department responded to during the previous year;
• Town’s Insurance Rating, whether there is a plan in place to reduce (improve) their insurance rating;
• Percentage of the fire department budget that is paid for by town taxes; and
• Recent history of receiving VFA grants.