Wildland Fire Fund

El Pomar Foundation's Wildland Fire Fund supports the immediate emergency needs of volunteer firefighting agencies and first responders throughout Colorado. El Pomar Foundation was established in 1937 by Spencer and Julie Penrose and carries forward their philanthropic mission to enhance, encourage, and promote the current and future well-being of the people of Colorado. The Wildland Fire Fund is one of El Pomar's funds focused on particular needs or geographic areas and provides a specialized funding channel for organizations whose grant needs fit the Fund's purpose. The Wildland Fire Fund was created in rapid response to Colorado's devastating 2002 wildfire season. El Pomar initially used the Fund to help supply front-line volunteer Colorado fire agencies with resources needed for wildfire response. Examples of assistance provided through the Fund have included personal firefighting equipment, radios, hoses, and pumps. Since its inception, El Pomar reports that the Wildland Fire Fund has awarded more than $6 million in grants and has addressed emergency needs for volunteer firefighters and first responders across Colorado. The Fund's stated mission is to assist with the immediate emergency needs of volunteer firefighting agencies and first responders throughout the state of Colorado. Under the published guidelines, volunteer and government agencies seeking support for personal protection equipment and other emergency needs are eligible to apply. The source does not provide a current individual award minimum or maximum, total funding available for the current review cycle, expected number of awards, required cost share, or matching contribution. It also does not identify additional spending restrictions, indirect cost rules, subaward rules, or a defined grant performance period. The published eligibility language covers volunteer agencies and government agencies whose requests concern personal protection equipment or other emergency needs. The Fund is geographically restricted to Colorado because its mission expressly applies throughout the state and its history describes assistance to Colorado fire agencies and first responders. The source does not provide further organizational requirements such as tax-exempt status, organizational size, minimum operating history, fiscal sponsorship rules, or restrictions involving specific types of governmental entities. It likewise does not state requirements concerning faith-based applicants, political activity, debt reduction, or other organizational characteristics beyond the published Wildland Fire Fund guidelines. El Pomar Foundation accepts applications on a rolling basis. Competitive and Fund applications should be submitted at least 10 weeks before a Trustee meeting to ensure eligibility for consideration at that meeting. The Trustees will review the Wildland Fire Fund on September 18, 2026, and December 4, 2026. Based on the 10-week submission rule, the September 18 review corresponds to July 10, 2026, while the December 4 review corresponds to September 25, 2026. Because applications remain rolling, these dates represent timing for eligibility for a particular Trustee review rather than a final closing date for the overall funding opportunity. The supplied information does not otherwise describe an application portal, required narratives, attachments, application questions, or formal evaluation criteria. Organizations that receive funding are subject to a reapplication waiting period. If an applicant is funded, it must wait three years from the date of the meeting at which the grant was awarded before it can be considered again. If an applicant is declined, it must wait one year from the date of the meeting at which the grant was declined before it can be considered again. These waiting-period guidelines do not apply to organizations receiving grants from El Pomar that were initiated by the Trustees. Questions about the Wildland Fire Fund may be directed to El Pomar Foundation's grants office at grants@elpomar.org or 719-633-7733. No individual grant contact, award notification date, performance period, or explicit PDF guidelines URL is provided in the supplied material.

Align the request with the Fund's mission of addressing immediate emergency needs and its stated eligibility for personal protection equipment and other emergency needs. Applications are rolling, but submit at least 10 weeks before the desired Trustee meeting to ensure eligibility for that review. Confirm eligibility under the reapplication rule: funded applicants wait three years from the award meeting, while declined applicants wait one year from the decline meeting.