The Santa Maria Fire Department will soon have nine additional firefighters, thanks to a grant it received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
According to a statement from the city, FEMA awarded the department a $1.6 million Staffing for Adequate Emergency Response grant that will be paid out over the next three years. The grant funding will cover 75 percent of the cost of the positions in the first and second years. In the third year, the grant will cover 35 percent of the cost.
The rest of the funding in each of those years will be covered with the city’s Measure U funding, established with a 1 percent sales tax increase that a 74 percent majority of voters approved in November 2018. Following the three-year period, the positions created by this grant will be completely funded with Measure U revenue.
The grant funding will allow the department to create an additional response team that will be stationed downtown at Fire Station No. 1. The new team will work on a ladder truck that is already in place, according to the city’s statement about the grant.
“Securing an additional response unit in the downtown will enable Santa Marians to receive better emergency response times,” the city’s statement reads. “It will also increase firefighter safety by more quickly deploying an adequate number of firefighters on-scene at structure fires.”
According to the city, this new unit of firefighters will be fully staffed and operational sometime next spring or early summer. The department is in the hiring process now, with recruits expected to begin their academy in early 2020.
During a June 18 City Council meeting, the council approved updates to the city’s 2019-20 budget, which includes an additional nearly $5 million in funding for the city’s fire department. This includes funding for an additional 13 positions to the department’s existing 61 staff members.
A representative from the fire department didn’t respond to the Sun’s requests for comments on this grant funding prior to press time. m
—Zac Ezzone
This article appears in Sep 26 – Oct 3, 2019.