Fire Department Small Equipment Grant Program Applications Due

SPRINGFIELD – Area fire departments looking to get grants for equipment have until the end of November to complete their application. The Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal Small Equipment Grant Program was established to provide grants of up to $26,000 for the purchase of small firefighting and ambulance equipment. The purpose is to allow eligible departments the opportunity to purchase small equipment that they may otherwise not be able to purchase. All interested departments should send an electronic or postmarked application to the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal no later than November 30. OSFM will award $1.5 million to eligible fire departments and ambulance services during this application period.
Fire department, fire protection district and township fire department applicants must have participated in the National Fire Incident Reporting System NFIRS for a minimum of two years prior to the application for the Small Equipment Grant, except that fire departments that were issued a Fire Department Identification Number by the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal less than two years prior to the application are eligible to apply for a Small Equipment Grant if they have participated in NFIRS since the date their FDID was issued by the OSFM. The two year required reporting period will be from August 2020 through August 2022. Fire departments are required to report all incidents responded to, including ambulance calls. An eligibility report will be posted to the grant’s webpage and updated throughout the grant period. The report will also be sent to our NFIRS email distribution list.