By 1812Blockhouse
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has approved more than $593,000 in grant funding for 95 rural fire departments across the state, a move aimed squarely at strengthening Ohio’s wildfire response capacity at the local level.
The funding comes through the agency’s Division of Forestry and its Volunteer Fire Assistance program, which focuses on departments that are at least 80 percent volunteer and serve communities of fewer than 10,000 residents within the state’s designated wildfire protection area.
Three Richland County departments are among the recipients.
“In addition to wildland fire training, this funding helps departments serving Ohio’s wildfire protection area enhance their equipment and operational readiness,” said Dan Balser, chief of the ODNR Division of Forestry. “Investing in local departments strengthens emergency response at the community level.”
That investment may sound modest on paper, but in rural communities, a few thousand dollars can make a meaningful difference.
How The Volunteer Fire Assistance Program Works
The Volunteer Fire Assistance grants are structured as matching funds. Departments can receive up to 50 percent of a project’s total cost, with a maximum award of $10,000 per grant.
The money can be used for:
- All-terrain vehicles for brush and wildland response
- Wildfire water tanks and pump units
- Personal protective equipment for firefighters
- Structure and wildland fire safety gear
- Radios and communication devices
- Operational tools and suppression supplies
Many rural departments operate on lean budgets. Most of their funding goes toward maintaining basic emergency response capabilities, leaving little room for equipment upgrades. The VFA program is designed to close that gap. Funding for this cycle comes from the USDA Forest Service, supplemented by additional dollars from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Richland County Departments Receiving Grants
Three local departments secured funding this round:
- Plymouth Fire Department: $5,223.76 for MARCS communication devices and suppression supplies
- Worthington Township Fire Department: $3,096.50 for wildfire personal protective equipment, tools, and supplies
- Washington Township Fire Department: $10,000.00 for MARCS communication devices
The communication devices, part of Ohio’s Multi-Agency Radio Communication System, improve coordination across agencies during emergencies. In a wildfire or large-scale incident, interoperability can be as critical as manpower.
An Ohio Issue
Wildfires are not just a western U.S. issue. Ohio has thousands of acres of forested land, particularly in rural and semi-rural areas where volunteer departments form the backbone of emergency response. Grants like these do not overhaul a department’s operations overnight. What they do is incremental but important: better radios, safer gear, more reliable suppression tools. That translates into quicker response times, clearer communication, and safer working conditions for volunteer firefighters.
In rural Ohio, preparedness is often built piece by piece. This latest round of funding adds three more pieces in Richland County.
Source: ODNR; Image by Michael Schwarzenberger from Pixabay
