Pennsylvania opens $950,000 in wildfire grants for rural volunteer fire companies
The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will award up to $15,000 per fire company for wildland firefighting gear and training, on a 50/50 cost share. Applications are due online by 4 p.m. on Jan. 7, 2027.
Harrisburg. Pennsylvania's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is taking applications for up to $950,000 in grants to volunteer fire companies that protect rural communities from wildfires, the department announced on Oct. 13. The money pays for training and equipment used to fight brush and forest fires.
Eligible applicants are state and local firefighting forces in rural areas or in communities with fewer than 10,000 residents. Applications must be filed through the department's grant website by 4 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2027. Only online applications will be accepted.
Up to $15,000, matched dollar for dollar
The largest award in 2027 is $15,000 per fire company, and the grants are paid on a 50/50 cost share basis: a grant for a project in a fiscal year may not exceed half of what the local, public or private nonprofit organization actually spends on it. A company seeking the full $15,000 would therefore spend at least $30,000 on the project.
The department says it will give priority to projects that buy wildfire suppression equipment and protective clothing. Grants may also pay for mobile or portable radios, dry hydrants, wildfire prevention and mitigation work, training for wildland firefighters, or converting vehicles into wildland fire engines. Recipients are chosen by how vulnerable an area is and how adequate its existing fire protection is.
“The commitment and dedication of these volunteers is critical to ensuring the Commonwealth doesn't experience larger wildfires.”
A federal program run by the state
The program is offered through the department and funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service. In 2025 it awarded $905,846 to 114 volunteer fire companies serving rural areas where forest and brush fires are common, and it has provided more than $14 million since it began in 1982.
The announcement comes at the start of what the department calls one of Pennsylvania's two dangerous seasons for wildfires, October and November, followed by March through May. The department says 99 percent of the state's wildfires are caused by people.
About this story
501c3.help wrote this story from the sources listed with it, not from material an organization sent. Our editors approved it on Oct. 17, 2026. Stories in The Nonprofit Herald are free, and nothing is asked in return. Editorial rules.
Found an error? Write to [email protected] and we will correct it.