Easton Fire Receives Volunteer Fire Assistance Grant

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) announced 32 local volunteer fire departments are receiving Volunteer Fire Assistance Grants (VFA), according to a release.

The grants will be used to train firefighters and purchase equipment to help them improve their skills. The funds are provided through a federal program that supports fire departments in towns with populations of 10,000 or less.

DEEP Commissioner Robert Klee said, “Congress has been very supportive keeping VFA funding in place and we are grateful to administer a program that provides such a critical supplemental service to constrained local municipal budgets. The required matching contribution doubles the public safety benefit in our state.”

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 the VFA grants.

The following is a list of the fire departments receiving grants:

Baltic Fire Engine Co #1

$ 2,462.00

Sprague

Bantam Fire Company

$ 528.30

Litchfield

Bungay Fire Brigade

$ 2,500.00

Woodstock

Canaan Fire Company Inc.

$ 2,500.00

Canaan

Colebrook Center Volunteer Fire Department

$ 2,500.00

Colebrook

Columbia Volunteer Fire Dept., Inc.

$ 2,111.70

Columbia

East Granby Volunteer Fire Department

$ 2,500.00

East Granby

East Hartland Volunteer Fire Department Inc

$ 2,500.00

Hartland

Eastford Independent Fire Company #1 Inc.

$ 2,500.00

Eastford

Easton Volunteer Fire Company, No. 1

$ 2,500.00

Easton

Falls Village Volunteer Fire Department

$ 2,494.31

Canaan

Kent Volunteer Fire Department, Inc.

$ 1,223.50

Kent

Killingworth Volunteer Fire Company

$ 2,500.00

Killingworth

Litchfield Fire Company Inc.

$ 2,500.00

Litchfield

Middlefield Volunteer Fire Company

$ 2,500.00

Middlefield

Morris Volunteer Fire

$ 690.00

Morris

Mortlake Fire Company

$ 2,500.00

Brooklyn

New Hartford Volunteer Fire Department

$ 2,500.00

New Hartford

Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department

$ 1,001.30

Norfolk

Pomfret Fire District

$ 2,428.60

Pomfret

Putnam Fire Department

$ 2,499.00

Putnam

Quinebaug Volunteer F.D. Inc

$ 1,925.00

Thompson

Riverton Volunteer Fire Company

$ 2,500.00

Barkhamsted

Roxbury Volunteer Fire Department Inc

$ 1,929.31

Roxbury

Salem Volunteer Fire Co. Inc.

$ 2,500.00

Salem

Scotland Volunteer Fire Department Inc

$ 2,500.00

Scotland

Sterling Volunteer Fire Co. Inc.

$ 2,500.00

Sterling

Thomaston Volunteer Fire Department

$ 2,500.00

Thomaston

Union Volunteer Fire Department Inc.

$ 1,050.00

Union

Volunteer Fire Department of Prospect

$ 872.46

Prospect

Warren Volunteer Fire Co. Inc.

$ 2,400.00

Warren

Willington Hill Fire Department Inc

$ 2,190.89

Willington