The Chula Vista Fire Department recently was awarded a grant that will see it add more boots on the ground.
A Department of Homeland Security grant will be dedicated to hiring 12 new firefighters in Chula Vista.
The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant will provide $3.7 million for staffing for the next three years. Of that amount, $2.3 million is Federal Emergency Administration grant monies and $1.4 million is the city’s contribution. A Chula Vista firefighter makes about $71,189 annually with no guaranteed overtime.
International Association of Fire Fighters’ President Darrell Roberts said he expects the dozen new firefighters to start fire academy next January, graduate in May 2018 and hit the streets soon after.
Safer grants are funded by FEMA to protect the health and safety of the public and firefighting personnel against fire and fire-related hazards.
The Chula Vista Fire Department plans to use the grant funding to staff an additional firefighter on four of its fire engines, increasing staffing from three personnel to four.
“The public is going to notice an immediate increase in our service delivery, meaning that with the addition of a fourth body we’re going to be able to provide our level of service much quicker than normal (with a fourth person),” Roberts said.
The union president also said the added person means that they will get to meet the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration law by having two firefighters inside a fire engine and two outside. By law firefighters never go into a dangerous situation in a fire or rescue incident alone, and that there be two firefighters outside the hazard area to initiate a rescue of the firefighters inside should they become in trouble during the initial stages of the incident where only one crew is operating in the hazard area.
Because Chula Vista has three fire fighters on a fire truck, instead of the required four, they would have to wait for another fire truck to get so that they comply with the law.
“With four people we can immediately go to work which in turn is going to have a tremendous impact on our fires because our fires are going to be smaller, when our fires are smaller that means less damage to our homes, less damage to our businesses, and it makes doing our job much safer,” he said.
Engine 51, the busiest rig located at fire station 1 at 447 F St. was allocated funding to staff the engine with four personnel. The SAFER grant will pay for 12 firefighters on four additional engines.
In 2016, CVFD responded to 19,892 calls for service of which 6,625 were from Fire station 1. Roberts said while the grant adds more firefighters, the department will still operate as one of the lowest staffed departments per capita in the entire state.
The Chula Vista fire department currently has 152 fire personal with the added 12 it goes to 164.
