HELP Award

CHEMTREC® is the world’s leading source of 24/7 call center support and information during hazardous materials incidents. For over 50 years, our engagement with emergency responders around the world has been the engine that drives our success. Considering that relationship, CHEMTREC will award $10,000 each to six fire departments in the United States. The awards are intended to help the fire departments enhance their response capabilities and increase local preparedness to respond to and prepare for hazardous materials incidents.

The 2025 HELP Awards are sponsored by the following companies:

• CHEMTREC (3 Awards Nationwide)
• American Chemistry Council (1 Award Nationwide)
• Dow (1 Award for California, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, or Texas)
• LyondellBasell (1 Award for Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, or Texas)
   

The application period for the 2025 award will open on June 1, 2025.

To be eligible to apply for the CHEMTREC® HELP (Hazmat Emergencies Local Preparedness) Award, departments must meet the following criteria:

• The fire department must be a local or state volunteer, career, or combination fire department. 
• Be in the United States and legally organized under state law. Tribal entities servicing a tribe recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) that are chartered pursuant to IRA Section 17 or organized by a tribal government pursuant to a tribal code or resolution are eligible to apply.
• Demonstrate in the application essay their need to receive the award by describing the equipment, resources, and/or training the department would purchase and/or the training they would attend to increase their response capabilities for hazardous materials incidents, as well explaining the potential hazardous materials incidents that could occur in their community
• Only one application will be accepted per department. Any subsequent applications received for that department during the award year will be disqualified. Past recipients of the HELP Award must wait five years before reapplying for the award.
• Departments that receive the award must use the money to increase their department’s hazmat response capabilities and not for any other purpose. The award cannot be redistributed.
• Departments that receive the award agree that their department name, details from their application essay, and all photos taken during the award presentation may be used in media by CHEMTREC, TRANSCAER, and American Chemistry Council, for the purposes of promoting the award program. The departments who receive the awards also agree to a department visit by CHEMTREC for the award presentation within six months of notification of the award.
   

After the application period ends, an expert panel selected by CHEMTREC will review the applications to assess financial need, anticipated use of funds, community risk and overall eligibility. 
Six fire departments will be selected to each receive $10,000 in funding. Selections are based upon the information provided in the application essay, recommendations of the award panel and the decisions of CHEMTREC, the American Chemistry Council, LyondellBasell, and Dow. The decisions are at the full discretion of the awarding entities and are final.