A $2 million promise will allow volunteer firefighters to buy equipment not already supplied by Tasmania Fire Service.
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The funds were announced as part of the latest state budget, with $500,000 each year over four years for the more than 230 volunteer brigades across the state.
Tasmanian Volunteer Fire Brigades Association president Robert Atkins said the money could help crews purchase training equipment, UHF radios, upgrade station meeting rooms and more.
While Tasmania Fire Service supplies fully stocked vehicles, personal protective equipment and station uniforms for volunteers, brigades have been forced to raise funds to purchase any additional equipment.
“Every man and his dog is fundraising at the moment," Mr Atkins said.
“I think the time the volunteers put in is sometimes not recognised enough.
“Volunteer firefighting is 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and then you have fundraising on top of that, training and meetings. You’ve got your family life too.”
The association will meet with volunteer brigades in the coming months to determine where the funds are most needed.
“Half a million a year, when you start buying items, it’ll soon disappear,” Mr Atkins said.
“We haven’t worked out the mechanics of how it is going to get delegated to the brigades, it will probably be needs-based.
“We definitely welcome the funds, brigade members and brigades will benefit, we will take whatever we can get.”
In the North, there are about 80 volunteer brigades that could benefit from the spend.
But the association’s northern president Don Mackrill said it needed to be an “equal process”.
“We have got to make it benefit everyone and levelled out across the state,” he said.
The funds will also be available to the State Emergency Service, which has 35 volunteer units across Tasmania and about 560 volunteers.
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