FAQ
VFD grants: getting started
The first questions a small volunteer department asks before applying.
- What grants can a small volunteer fire department actually get?
- Several. The big federal one is FEMA's Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) for gear, apparatus, and training. USDA Community Facilities funds fire trucks and stations year-round. Your state forester runs wildland-gear grants (VFA) and moves surplus military trucks (FEPP/FFP). And private foundations — Firehouse Subs, Gary Sinise, Leary, the Globe Gear Giveaway — fund equipment, several with a stated preference for volunteer departments.
- What's open right now (July 2026)?
- The FEMA programs (AFG, SAFER, FP&S) all closed June 22, 2026 — awards roll out through September. But the Firehouse Subs portal opens July 9, 2026 (first-come, capped at ~600 applications), USDA Community Facilities is open year-round, and state VFA rounds run on their own schedules. So there's action even with FEMA closed.
- Is the federal fire-grant pool really $648 million?
- No — and this is a common mix-up. The $648 million figure is the combined FY25 slate across three programs: AFG ($291.6M) + SAFER ($324M) + FP&S ($32.4M). AFG, the one most departments apply to for equipment, is $291.6 million on its own.
- Where do we start?
- Get grant-ready before you chase any specific program: an EIN, a SAM.gov registration with a UEI (renewed yearly), and — most important — onboard to NERIS, the incident-reporting system that replaced NFIRS. NERIS is free, it's an AFG award condition, and your incident data powers the need narrative every application requires.
You can apply for these yourself — thousands of small departments do. Start with the readiness basics, then work the programs. See what’s open and how AFG works.
Next step
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