State grant to provide nearly $8 million to volunteer fire departments

Nearly 200 fire departments across Ohio will soon receive funding to better equip themselves to protect their communities. The Ohio Department of Commerce Division of State Fire Marshal has announced recipients of the first-of-its-kind Small County Volunteer Fire Department Grant, established during the 136th General Assembly through House Bill 96.

A total of 190 departments in 49 Ohio counties have been awarded $7,997,960 through the grant program.

The nonrenewable grant was established to help small county fire departments purchase essential equipment, upgrade facilities and improve access to firefighting training. Legislation creating the grant defined small counties as those with populations of 70,000 or fewer, based on the 2020 U.S. Census.

“These small volunteer fire departments, many of which serve rural areas of the state, are the backbone of Ohio’s fire service, and the vast majority of them are working with small budgets,” State Fire Marshal Kevin Reardon said. “Thanks to the work of the legislature, this grant funding will better equip these departments to do a job that our communities rely on them to do, and that is to be there if and when an emergency strikes.”

About 70% of Ohio’s nearly 1,200 fire departments rely on volunteers, but the number of volunteers is dropping sharply across the state, as highlighted in the 2023 Governor’s Volunteer Fire Service Task Force report. From 2018 to 2021, the number of volunteer firefighters fell 6.5%, while calls increased 9% from 2018 to 2020.

The Small County Volunteer Fire Department Grant program is the latest in a series of initiatives established to support the state’s volunteer fire service. Previous actions by the Division of State Fire Marshal include making all training and classes at the Ohio Fire Academy available free of charge for volunteers and volunteer departments; developing a volunteer recruitment portal where Ohioans can search for volunteer roles near them and connect directly with department leadership; and deploying statewide media campaigns that resulted in an increase in volunteer inquiries.

Local beneficiaries included the Bowerston Volunteer Fire Department, $48,477; the Freeport Community Volunteer Fire Department, $26,000; the Harrisville Volunteer Fire Company, $18,329.20; the Scio Volunteer Fire Department, $50,000.

In addition to this grant, the Division of State Fire Marshal provides millions of dollars in grant funding each year to Ohio fire departments through other programs, including the MARCS Grant, Equipment Grant and Training and Reimbursement Grant. Additional details about these grants and their recipients are available at com.ohio.gov/SFMdashboard.