The Thompson-Nicola Regional District is applying for $270,000 in grant funding towards new equipment and training in all nine of its fire halls.

Operations Manager Jamie Vieira says the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund – Volunteer & Composite Fire Departments Equipment & Training program contributes up to 100 per cent of eligible costs to a maximum of $30,000 per fire department.

“The equipment that we get depends on the need of each fire department but its typically standard equipment like new hoses, new pumps, turnout gear, personal protective equipment for firefighters. That is what it was spent on last year,” Vieira said on NL Newsday.

“If successful we’ll have more funding that we could use for it next year.”

Vieira says if the TNRD gets this grant funding, it will work with each of its fire departments to replace equipment, starting with things deemed to be at highest priority.

“Each department will have their specific asks, so if successful in these grants we’ll go through the top list of what needs to get replaced first,” he said. “It all has a lifespan that we have tracked and so we budget to replace it and any external grant funding helps with that process.”

Vieira says the fund – which is designed to build the resiliency of volunteer and composite fire departments – helps reduce the amount that taxpayers pay directly towards new fire equipment.

“They’re dollars that go towards assets that need to be replaced anyway,” Vieira added.

“Thankfully, there is this external funding that the province is putting out there to support making sure these small departments that really have a small tax base can replace the gear that needs to be replaced or upgraded.”