State Fire Service Development & Education

Since 1995, Fire Services Development has administered the Rural Fire Truck Acquisition Assistance Program (RFTAAP), which provides matching fund grants up to $90,000 for fire truck purchases in rural areas. All counties have received these grants. Over 1,000 fire trucks have been purchased through this program and furnished to communities resulting in at least 1.3 million citizens across the state benefitting from the program.

State agencies and policy makers now have information about fire services and related public expenditures. This program established state purchase contracts that have reduced costs of fire equipment for the State’s 752 fire departments. Most of the 13,000 plus volunteer firefighters, as well as many career firefighters are beneficiaries of the various insurance coverage brought about through Fire Services Development program activities.

In addition, the Division is responsible for the management and administration of the State’s incident reporting system, MS ELITE. This system is utilized by the Division to analyze incident data, identify fire service trends and develop both short and long-term solutions aimed towards improving fire service capabilities throughout the State.