— David Celino, chief fire warden for the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, will travel to Berkshire and Franklin counties on Thursday to distribute volunteer fire assistance grants to 40 of the commonwealth's smaller fire departments that will help them buy equipment to battle wildfires.
Celino is scheduled to attend an 11 a.m. ceremony at the Windsor Fire Station, 2025 Route 9, before backtracking to Franklin County for a 2:30 p.m. event at the Shelburne Fire District, 18 Little Mohawk Road, in Shelburne.
More than $520,000 in grants have been awarded to rural fire departments for the purchase of supplies and equipment, according to DCR officials.
The assistance is available to nonprofit volunteer or call departments serving communities with fewer than 10,000 residents. At least 80 percent of a department's roster must be comprised of call or volunteer firefighters, according to grant guidelines.
Funding for the Volunteer Fire Assistance Program is provided by the U.S. Forest Service. The program is administered locally by the DCR's Bureau of Forest Fire Control.
More information about the grant program is available here.
Material from MassLive / The Republican, CapeCodToday.com, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the State House News Service was used in this report.