Volunteer fire departments across Tennessee are set to receive a major boost as the state distributes $10 million in grants to 245 departments.
The funding, distributed by the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, aims to address equipment needs for departments, WVLT reports.
Among the recipients is Walden’s Creek Volunteer Fire Department in East Tennessee, which will receive approximately $20,000 to replace five sets of expiring bunker gear. Without this grant, the department’s annual budget would have been nearly exhausted by the cost of the new gear.
The program, initiated five years ago, was designed to support volunteer fire departments, whose members make up more than 70 percent of Tennessee’s firefighters.
Since its launch in 2020, the grant program has allocated over $26 million to Tennessee fire departments.