The Ukiah Daily Journal, Calif.
(TNS)
Jun. 6—The Pacific Gas and Electric Company and the California Fire Foundation are currently accepting grant applications from California-based fire departments and community-based organizations focused on wildfire safety and preparedness, officials announced this week.
Applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on June 30, 2024, through the CFF website, and award notification will begin July 31, 2024.
According to PG&E, “PG&E and The PG&E Corporation Foundation are providing a total of $1.4 million to CFF’s Wildfire Safety and Preparedness Program. (which) continues to raise public awareness about wildfire safety and deliver resources to underserved communities in high fire-risk areas. It includes a competitive grant program that last year awarded 48 local fire departments and community groups $730,000 in funding.
Funding in 2023 supported:
* Purchasing approximately 2,800 pieces of personal protection equipment (PPE) including helmets, boots, gloves, goggles and fire shelters
* Removing over 176 acres of hazardous trees and brush
* Chipping and hauling of 380,500 pounds of tree limbs, branches and other combustibles
* Conducting 25 prescribed fires or pile burns for forest management
PG&E also notes that “since 2018, CFF, which administers and manages the WSPP, has awarded 313 grants to fire departments and community organizations statewide, focusing its efforts in Northern and Central California. Funding targets communities identified as having extreme or elevated fire risk as identified by the California Public Utilities Commission.”
“Local fire departments, agencies and community groups play a vital role in prioritizing and executing the projects that help protect our friends, neighbors and communities — critical to raising awareness about wildfire safety,” Mark Quinlan, PG&E’s Senior Vice President of Wildfire, Emergency & Operations, was quoted as saying in the release. “We’re grateful for our ongoing partnership with CFF and our shared goal to ensure that our hometowns are doing everything possible to prevent wildfires from starting.”
From 2018 to the present, PG&E and the PG&E Foundation have provided $8.8 million in total support for fire safety awareness through the WSPP. The charitable contribution is shareholder-funded, not paid for by PG&E customers.
Since 2018, WSPP has funded:
* Specialized fire equipment and personal protective equipment
* Defensible space and vegetation management efforts
* Fuel/hazard reduction programs
* Fire prevention and emergency preparedness education, including senior citizen wildfire preparedness programs
* Partnerships with community groups in high fire-risk areas to distribute fire-safety information
* Fire safety outreach campaigns, including 12,000 multi-lingual brochures targeting under-resourced communities in English, Spanish, Chinese, Hmong, and Vietnamese
The CFF notes that “as temperatures rise and we enter wildfire season, the urgency to prepare has never been greater. The California Statewide Grant Opportunity is now available to all California-based community groups, non-profit organizations, fire departments, firefighter associations, and federally recognized tribes. With up to $25K now available for each local project, groups are welcome to apply and help strengthen our communities.”
Funding areas include:
* Education, Planning, or Community Outreach Campaigns
* Vegetation Mitigation & Fuels Reduction Efforts
* Personal Protective Equipment or Specialized Firefighting Equipment Purchases
To apply, visit cafirefoundation.org/grants.
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