The provincial government is giving $730,000 to 39 volunteer fire departments across the province to help them purchase necessary equipment.

Justice and Public Safety Minister Bernard Davis announced the Pouch Cove Volunteer Fire Department earlier today.

The money will be used for things such as bunker gear, cylinders, portable pumps, boots, and extrication tools.

That money is in addition to $ 4.1 million announced in September to replace over 400 self-contained breathing apparatus units.

Those units all have to be replaced by mid-December, and Davis says they are on track to meet that target.

He says they had a “fairly large” uptake with departments applying for the funding, and in many cases, they were able to turn the requests around in days. Davis says he is fairly confident they will be able to meet their deadlines.