Virgin Islands Fire Service

Virgin Islands Fire Service, a division of the Government of the Virgin Islands and a U.S. local government entity, receives federal grants as a prime recipient and sub-recipient to fund wildland firefighting equipment, emergency response infrastructure, personnel training, and emergency preparedness capabilities across the U.S. Virgin Islands. The organization does not hold federal contracts; all federal awards are grants administered through FEMA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, and the Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Virgin Islands Fire Service acts as prime recipient on 27 of 43 total awards (63%) and as sub-recipient on 16 awards (37%), with sub-awards flowing through the Government of the Virgin Islands as parent grantee. The organization is positioned squarely in grant-funded emergency services — not commercial contracting — and competes for federal emergency management, wildland fire assistance, and hazmat preparedness grant programs rather than set-aside contract vehicles.

Customer concentration sits heavily with FEMA and the USDA Forest Service. FEMA Headquarters Financial Assistance Awards account for 16 awards across SAFER grants (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response), Homeland Security Grant Program funding, and congressionally directed spending for fire station construction and safe room retrofits. The USDA Forest Service, operating through its International Institute of Tropical Forestry office in San Juan, has awarded Virgin Islands Fire Service 11 prime grants under the State & Private Forestry Cooperative Fire Assistance program (CFDA 10.698) between 2022 and 2026. Recent representative awards include a $120,000 State & Private Forestry Cooperative Fire Assistance grant (August 2026, completion September 2028) for wildland firefighting equipment acquisition in St. Croix and St. John districts; a $141,000 grant (September 2025, completion September 2027) combining equipment procurement with comprehensive firefighter training in fire behavior analysis, safety procedures, equipment operation, and fire weather monitoring; a $269,250 SAFER grant (August 2023) for emergency response staffing; and a $110,000 State & Private Forestry Cooperative Fire Assistance grant (August 2024, completion September 2026) supporting hazardous fuels reduction, community wildfire protection planning, and fire prevention education.

Activity peaked in 2023 with nine awards and has modulated since (two awards in 2025, one in 2026). Only two awards face ultimate completion inside the next twenty-four months, presenting minimal near-term recompete cliff exposure. Sub-awards under the Government of the Virgin Islands parent include funding for fire station safe room construction, equipment acquisition, and emergency medical response training across multiple islands. The organization's federal footprint reflects a public-sector emergency management profile: wildland fire suppression, hazmat emergency preparedness planning, and staffing augmentation for local fire departments on non-federal lands in the territory.