Iowa’s rural fire departments have the opportunity to receive grant money to help battle wildfires, thanks to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Forestry-Fire Program and the US Forest Service.

The 2023 Volunteer Fire Assistance Grant provides 50 percent reimbursement for wildland fire equipment with a maximum reimbursement grant of $4,500 per department. This includes assistance for wildfire suppression equipment, slide-in units, hoses, nozzles, adapters, portable tanks and pumps, personal protective equipment, and communications equipment. Special requests are allowed if determined to be directly tied to wildfire suppression.

Applications are due on October 16, and eligible departments must serve a community with a population of 10,000 or less. Fire departments are also encouraged to send a Wildland Fire Report whenever they respond to a wildland fire or provide assistance to a prescribed or controlled burn. Departments actively returning reports receive priority points in the grant application scoring process.

With questions, contact state wildland fire supervisor for the Iowa DNR, Gail Kantak at gail.kantak@dnr.iowa.gov or 515-689-0083. For a copy of the grant application package and Wildland Fire Report form, click here.