Two dozen area volunteer fire departments awarded grants

As the result of recent legislation, two dozen area volunteer fire departments will get state grants totaling almost $6 million to purchase needed equipment.

During its annual funding meeting Oct. 14, the Texas A&M Forestry Service allocated about $164 million in grants from the Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance Program, according to a news release. In March, the Texas Legislature made such a large infusion of funding possible by removing a $30 million per year cap on the program.

With the funding cap in place, many volunteer fire departments in Texas could wait 10 to 15 years for their turn to get a grant, Hooks Volunteer Fire Department Chief Brandon Whitehurst said.

“What they did this last legislative session was allocate an extra $192 million to essentially clear the backlog of grant requests. So, the Legislature definitely saw the need, especially with the increase in wildfires, to use that surplus funding and help fire departments all over the state of Texas,” he said.

Hooks and 23 other volunteer fire departments in Bowie, Cass, Morris, Red River and Titus counties received a total of 29 grants.

The funds will pay for water tank trucks, called “water tenders,” and small and large brush trucks.

Many departments will also be able to buy “slip-on units,” self-contained tank, pump and hose apparatuses that can be mounted on a pickup or trailer.

As both operation costs and call volumes are increasing, Hooks VFD’s $345,000 in grants are more than welcome, Whitehurst said. The department will be able to upgrade from the oldest vehicle in its fleet to a new, higher capacity tank truck, and to buy a slip-on unit.

“As a volunteer fire department, we’re tasked with a little bit of everything. There are more demands on our fire service in general. You know, five years ago we were running 300 calls a year. Now this year, we’ll do 700,” he said.

For Cass County, ESD 3 received $300,000 for water tender, Crossroads-Cornett VFD received $165,000 for a small brush truck and Linden VFD received $45,000 for a slip-on unit.