On April 26, 2022, the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District (District) Board of Directors (Board) ratified the District's application for grant funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency in an amount not to exceed $11,500,000 over a three-year period, for the FY 2021 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program.
On September 15, 2022, the District was notified of a FY 2021 SAFER award in the amount of $7,548,363. The District must respond to the award by October 21, 2022.
The purpose of the SAFER grant program is to provide funding directly to fire departments to assist them in maintaining or increasing the number of firefighters to help communities meet industry minimum standards and attain 24-hour staffing to provide adequate protection from fire and fire-related hazards.
Within the District a fire engine is typically staffed with a captain, an engineer, and a firefighter, at least one of which is a paramedic. The District's ladder trucks are staffed with four personnel, two of which are at the firefighter rank. With funding from the FY 2021 SAFER grant, the District would add a four-person dedicated rescue company consisting of a captain, engineer and two firefighters to assist with filling the need for additional, dedicated personnel for the increasing volume and complexity of rescue related incidents. A dedicated rescue company would consist of members with specialized training in rescue systems including confined space, technical rescue, high angle rope rescue, automobile extrication, building stabilization and shoring, and specialized training for incidents involving violence. Additionally, the rescue company would add system capacity to respond to structure fires, vehicle accidents, technical rescue incidents such as confined space, trench, or high angle rope rescues, vehicles into structures where shoring and stabilization is needed, and emergency medical calls.
As indicated in the above paragraph, staffing a four-person dedicated rescue company consists of adding a captain, engineer, and two firefighters over three shifts. That equates to 12 positions in total. The award does fund 12 positions but it funds them at the firefighter-paramedic level. Therefore, if the District accepts this grant, general operating funds will need to cover the cost difference between firefighter-paramedic and fire captain and fire engineer. The total project cost is estimated at $9.5 million, so the District will be responsible for the difference between the award amount and the total costs.
Period of Performance: The period of performance for this grant is 03/14/23 to 03/13/26.
Cost Share: There will be a cost sharing component with this award.
Acceptance of this award is time sensitive. The District may need to return with another action to add twelve (12) Firefighter-Paramedic positions.
If unapproved, the District would not accept the SAFER grant and not be able to utilize it to staff a full-time rescue company.