The purpose of the Volunteer Fire Assistance (VFA) program is to provide financial, technical and other assistance to state foresters and other appropriate officials to organize, train, and equip fire departments in rural Massachusetts areas and rural communities to prevent and suppress fires. A rural community is defined as having 10,000 or less population.
Qualifying projects must support (1) fire fighter safety, (2) technology transfer, or (3) rural fire defense. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Wildland Fire Management Training
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
- Rural Forest Fire Defense
- Equipment purchase or replacement
- Dry hydrants & replacement parts
- Forestry vehicle unit replacement parts/refurbishment
- Federal Excess Personal Property vehicle conversion to a forestry unit, refurbishment, parts
- Prevention materials & signage;
- US Geological Survey topographical maps; your community only
- Technology transfer - Computer software (wildfire) update or purchase
- Firewise community work
- Fire Evacuation Plan work
On a sliding scale, priority will be given to Departments who have not received recent VFA funding.
Priority will be given to projects where at least 25% of funding is used for training.