Thanks to Anheuser-Busch, volunteer fire departments who respond to wildland fires can now apply for canned emergency drinking water through the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) for their immediate or upcoming wildfire response needs.
Fighting Wildfires
The Emergency Drinking Water for Wildland Firefighters program supports volunteer departments across the U.S. fighting wildfires throughout the year by helping provide critical hydration when it is needed most.
“We appreciate Anheuser-Busch’s commitment to support our volunteer boots on the ground responders in fighting our nation’s wildland fires, especially since many volunteer departments often work with limited budgets and resources,” said National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) Chairman, Steve Hirsch.
Supporting fire and emergency ground responders
It’s critical that firefighters are well-hydrated to ensure the proper level of response"
Steve adds, “It’s critical that firefighters are well-hydrated to ensure the proper level of response. Anheuser-Busch has been an outstanding partner, and we are excited to continue our relationship together through this invaluable program to support our volunteer firefighters’ health and safety.”
This is the second year of the program, which is an expansion of Anheuser-Busch’s longstanding tradition of providing emergency drinking water and supplies for disaster relief efforts. In 2019, Anheuser-Busch teamed up with the NVFC to deliver over 1 million cans of clean drinking water to help hydrate our nation’s firefighters. This year, Anheuser-Busch has pledged to continue this support through a donation of 1.5 million cans of emergency drinking water to support fire departments across the country.
Enhancing firefighters’ safety
“Volunteer firefighters selflessly put their lives on the line to help protect our friends, families, and neighbors,” said Adam Warrington, Vice President, Better World at Anheuser-Busch. “We are proud to provide valuable hydration support through our emergency drinking water program to our nation's brave firefighters and to work alongside our partners at the NVFC, highlighting their efforts and sacrifices for the continued safety of our communities.”
Departments will have two key opportunities to request water in 2020 to support immediate and upcoming wildfire-related incidents.
- Application Period 1: March 15 – May 15. NOW OPEN!
- Application Period 2: July 1 – August 31
Applying for emergency drinking water
Departments in a declared emergency due to wildfire will also be able to request water outside of the application periods to help with their immediate wildfire response needs. To apply for emergency drinking water from Anheuser-Busch and the NVFC, departments must meet the following requirements:
- Responded to wildfires in 2019 and plans to respond to wildfires in 2020
- Be all-volunteer or mostly-volunteer (over 50%)
- Serve a population of 25,000 or less
- Be located in the U.S. and be legally organized under state law
- Must be available to accept the water delivery, store requested amount, and utilize amount by ‘best by’ date on package (canned water has a shelf life of 365 days from the packaging date)
- Demonstrate a need for the water
- Departments are encouraged to submit one application per year. Subsequent applications received for that department will be subject to additional review.
- NVFC members will have priority to receive the water donation.
