Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company announced that the Heritage Program has distributed more than $20 million in donations since its inception in 2004. During the past four years, more than 1,100 different fire departments have benefitted from the grant money. Donations average $20,000, but can range from $5,000 to more than $100,000. Grants are issued, in part, to fill the voids left by growing budget cuts.

Fireman's Fund passed the $20 million mark was passed in Heath, Texas, where the city’s department of public safety received a $10,000 grant for a new high-tech educational robot used to teach children how to protect themselves from fires and other dangers in their community.

“This is a program that has a direct impact in helping local fire departments, big and small, all across the country,” says Mike LaRocco, president and chief executive officer. “The equipment purchased with our grant money not only makes communities safer, it has literally saved lives, and that’s what we’re most proud of.”

Fireman’s Fund employees and its network of independent agents work together to identify specific needs and direct grants to local fire departments. Grant money is used to purchase auto extrication gear, thermal imaging cameras, defibrillators, fire safety houses for children and a variety of other equipment.

Additionally, the company has supported national fire service programs by providing hundreds of thousands of dollars in matching funds for the International Association of Fire Chiefs' National Fire Fighter Near-Miss Reporting System, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s Everyone Goes Home campaign and the National Volunteer Fire Council’s Heart Healthy Initiative.