About the KFS Fire Program
Empowering fire departments to provide better service to Kansans through training, equipment, and financial assistance.
For 50 years the Kansas Forest Service, Fire Management Program has provided vehicles and equipment to fire departments to enhance their fire suppression capacity. Current programs are the Excess Personal Property Program (FEPP), Fire Fighter Property (FFP) and the Equipment Donation Program (EDP). While some restrictions apply, FFP allows the departments to eventually own the equipment and to utilize it for prescribed and controlled burning as well as other civil emergencies.
Education opportunities are available at no cost for fire prevention education, suppression and controlled burning. Some classes for land managers and fire fighters are specifically for use within the state, others qualify one to participate in incidents at the Federal level through the Incident Qualification System (Red Card).
Financial assistance for the Kansas Forest Service fire program is principally provided by the State Fire Assistance and Volunteer Fire Assistance Programs of the USDA Forest Service’s State and Private Forestry Division. State fire assistance funds, or SFA, provides funding for KFS fire staff to deliver services to rural fire districts and the citizens of Kansas with services such as training, wildfire preparedness and planning, suppression and response, as well as prescribed fire management. Volunteer fire assistance funds are pass-through funds to cooperating fire districts for ancillary products such as communications equipment, protective gear, hand tools, water pumps, and related items. Coupled to the above is long range planning assistance for Districts desiring a Community Wildfire Protection Plan, or a Hazardous Fuel Assessment.