Three Brazos County volunteer fire departments land $30,000 each for protective gear in state grant round

Three volunteer fire departments in Brazos County will each get $30,000 for personal protective equipment in the latest round of state grants for rural firefighters, according to a funding summary the Texas A&M Forest Service released Friday.

The agency awarded about $19.6 million to 518 volunteer departments across Texas on Oct. 23, the opening round of the 2027 fiscal year for the Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance Program. The Brazos County awards went to the Brazos County District 2, Precinct 3 and Precinct 4 volunteer fire departments.

Across the Brazos Valley

A count of the agency's list shows 23 departments in Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Leon, Madison, Robertson and Washington counties sharing $810,000 in this round.

• Leon County: six departments, $210,000. Buffalo, Centerville, East Leon County and Jewett got $30,000 each for gear or equipment; Leona and Marquez got $45,000 each for slip-on units.
• Grimes County: four departments, $135,000, including $45,000 for Plantersville-Stoneham and $30,000 each for Central Grimes County, Shiro and Todd Mission.
• Robertson County: Blackjack and Easterly, $45,000 each for slip-on units, and Bremond, $30,000.
• Washington County: Salem and Washington, $45,000 each, and Prairie Hill-Rocky Hill, $30,000.
• Madison County: Midway and North Zulch, $45,000 each.
• Burleson County: Birch Creek Area, $30,000, and Beaver Creek, $15,000 for training aids.

Statewide, protective gear was the most common category, with 171 awards. Equipment for fire and rescue work accounted for 126, and training aids and slip-on units 100 each. Nineteen departments got money for brush trucks or water tenders, and two for truck chassis. The largest single award on the list, $300,000, went to a Brazoria County department for a water tender.

How the program works

The Legislature created the program in 2001 to help volunteer departments pay for equipment and training on a cost-share basis. The Forest Service says requests routinely outrun the money available, and the 89th Legislature set aside $192 million in one-time funding to work through requests that were still waiting.

"When an emergency happens, volunteer fire departments are often the first to answer the call," Merrie Noak, a program leader with the agency, said in the announcement.

Departments that won grants were notified by email Friday, the summary says. Applications that did not get funding roll forward automatically, and the next round is tentatively set for March 26, 2027.

Sources

tfsweb.tamu.edu

tfsweb.tamu.edu