The Holland Volunteer Fire Department is among 122 volunteer departments receiving nearly $200,000 in grants from the Virginia Department of Forestry.

The money comes through the Volunteer Fire Assistance Program. The grants range in size from $250 to $2,500 and will be used to purchase equipment such as communications gear, water tanks for brush trucks, wildland fire specialty tools, training materials and more.

“The VFA program provides vital funding to the many volunteer fire departments that assist us with the suppression of wildfires across the state,” said John Miller, director of VDOF’s resource protection division. “This money helps VFDs purchase much-needed equipment that provides for the safety of both the public and these volunteer firefighters.  I only wish we had enough funding to support all their needs.”

A total of 145 fire departments applied for grants this year, and 122 were approved. The requests for support totaled $734,998 — far more than the $191,688 VDOF had available. Since the VFA program began in 1975, the VDOF has awarded more than $3 million to volunteer fire departments throughout the Commonwealth.

The Virginia Department of Forestry protects and develops healthy, sustainable forest resources for Virginians. Headquartered in Charlottesville, the agency has forestry staff members assigned to every county to provide citizen service and public safety protection across the state.

With nearly 16 million acres of forestland and more than 144,000 Virginians employed in forestry, forest products and related industries, Virginia forests provide more than $27.5 billion annually in benefits to the state.