MATAGORDA, Texas –- Matagorda Volunteer Fire Department received a cost share grant through the Rural
Volunteer Fire Department Assistance Program to help purchase a 2020 Ram 3500 truck chassis. Local support
from the community and County Commissioner Kent Pollard helped them meet their cost share portion and
add a slip-on unit to the chassis, completing the build-out of the truck.
Matagorda VFD’s 130-square-mile protection area comprises of grassland, farms and ranches and low-lying,
muddy terrain.
“We intentionally built this new brush truck lighter, giving us greater operational flexibility,” said Matagorda
VFD Fire Chief Clay Bishop. “We kept it basic with a 250-gallon water tank and a 10-gallon foam tank that
will help us meet the fire service needs of our community and surrounding area.”
The brush truck performed well when recently used to respond to several fires, one being a 142-acre fire that
encroached onto port authority land.
“Our department gets a lot of calls that started out as burn piles,” said Bishop. “Our call volume increases in the
summer when our population increases from 1,100 to 5,000 when people start visiting Matagorda Beach. We
encourage people to practice safe burns especially since we had the Winter Storm Uri that left the vegetation in
our area very dry.”
Matagorda Volunteer Fire Department has been serving their community since 1948 and continuously strives to
improve fire service. The department has two fundraisers each year, one on Memorial Weekend and the other
in October. The proceeds help with daily operations and departmental upgrades.
Texas A&M Forest Service is committed to protecting lives and property through the Rural Volunteer Fire
Department Assistance Program, a cost-share program funded by Texas State Legislature and administered by
Texas A&M Forest Service. This program provides funding to rural Volunteer Fire Departments for the
acquisition of firefighting vehicles, fire and rescue equipment, protective clothing, dry-hydrants, computer
systems and firefighter training.
For more information on programs offered by Texas A&M Forest Service, please visit http://texasfd.com.