The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Forestry - Fire Program, working in coordination with the US Forest Service, has grant money available for Iowa’s rural fire departments to help battle wildfires.

The grants offer funding assistance for wildfire suppression equipment, slide-in units, hoses, nozzles, adapters, portable tanks and pumps, personal protective equipment and communications equipment. Additionally, if a fire department has a special need that can be tied directly to wildfire suppression, this grant allows for such special requests.

The grant provides 50 percent reimbursement for wildland fire equipment with a maximum reimbursement grant of $3,500 per department. Applications are due on Oct. 15.

Gail Kantak, state wildland fire supervisor for the Iowa DNR, said fire departments should send her a Wildland Fire Report whenever they respond to a wildland fire or provide assistance to a prescribed or controlled wildland fire. Departments actively returning these reports receive priority points in the Volunteer Fire Assistance Grant application scoring process.  

All Iowa volunteer fire departments were mailed information about the 2021 Volunteer Fire Assistance Grant. The grant application package and the Wildland Fire Report form are also available online at www.iowadnr.gov/fire.