Texas Fire Departments Receive More Than $15 Million In Grants
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COLLEGE STATION (CBSDFW.COM) - Texas fire departments received more than $15 million in grants yesterday through the Texas A&M Forest Service Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance Program.
"The TFS grant program not only provides much needed resources for training and equipment, but it also is key to recruitment of personnel. The better equipped and trained your department is directly impacts the number of people wanting to be a member of your team," said Ingleside Volunteer Fire Department Chief R.J. Thomas.
The RVFDAP awarded 442 grants to 421 fire departments for firefighting vehicles, training and safety equipment during the first three funding meetings of the year and still has more than $170 million in outstanding grant requests.
The Texas A&M Forest service said that Texas local fire departments are the first line of defense against wildfires and more than 85 percent of fire departments are volunteer.
Ingleside Volunteer Fire Department was one of the departments that received a grant.
Texas A&M Forest Service has administered the grant program under the Texas Legislature since 2002, having awarded 1,655 fire engines, 69,140 pieces of protective clothing and 69,134 training tuitions to Texas fire departments since the program's inception.
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