Superintendent Kayci Cook Collins announces that for the fourth consecutive year, El Malpais National Monument has received grant monies for Rural Fire Assistance to support one of its nearest rural fire departments. This year, the monument received $5,000 which was used to purchase wildland fire fighting equipment and personal protective gear for rural Volunteer Fire Departments (VFDs) in Cibola County . Candy Kitchen VFD was chosen because they serve rural communities and would be close by to help the monument should a catastrophic fire occur.
To date, Rural Fire Assistance funding has increased wildland firefighting capabilities of three Volunteer Fire Departments by providing each with a new 200 gallon slip-on pump unit, plus fire tools, protective equipment and fire resistant clothing. Since the implementation of the Rural Fire Assistance program, over $48,000 in grant monies was awarded to El Malpais National Monument to purchase equipment and clothing needed by these rural fire departments.
"The National Park Service Rural Fire Assistance program's goal is to enhance the effectiveness of wildland fire protection on lands adjacent to NPS units" states Fire Management Officer David Langley. "The NPS may provide technical assistance, training supplies and materials, equipment, and participate in interagency prevention and educational activities on a cost-share basis" continues Langley . El Morro Ranches VFD and San Rafael VFD provided personnel and equipment to help with the suppression of the Cherry Fire in 2002 while Candy Kitchen VFD provided a water tender for two prescribes fires in the monument in the summer of 2003.
Congress allocated the Rural Fire Assistance funding to the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs and Fish and Wildlife Service in a fiscal year 2001 appropriation bill. The funding is intended "to enhance the fire protection capability of rural fire districts." The assistance to rural fire departments is a pilot program and is part of a larger national fire plan to reduce wildfire risks in communities where there is a wildland/urban interface. |
