Grant could fund firefighter jobs in Calif.

By John Asbury
The Press Enterprise

HEMET, Calif. — The Hemet Fire Department is banking on the approval of a $1.6 million grant and an improved economy to secure the future of a dozen firefighters.

The Hemet City Council will vote Aug. 9 on whether to accept the federal grant, which would fund those Fire Department positions through 2013.

The council may decide not to accept it because the grant comes with some restrictions — notably, that the city would have to maintain the same staffing level at the Fire Department through the life of the grant.

The SAFER grant, which stands for Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, is through the Homeland Security Department. A $2.2 million SAFER grant approved last year provided enough money to fund jobs through 2012 for nine firefighters who otherwise would have been laid off, and allowed the department to hire three others.

The department applied for a second grant with the intention of reopening Fire Station 5, shuttered in 2008 due to budget cuts.

But with the city still in dire financial straits, the department decided to use the second grant to maintain those 12 positions for one additional year, Fire Department grant writer Diane Matsumoto said.

It also would be used to form a medical response team that would reduce response times and require firetrucks to be used less often for medical calls, Matsumoto said.

Hemet Mayor Jerry Franchville said he's unsure whether the City Council will approve the grant. He said council members would have to weigh the grant's restrictions.

"There are a lot of questions. We're appreciative of the grant, but when we applied two years ago, it was before things have changed with this Fire Department," Franchville said. "The fear is after the grant runs out, we may have to lay off the positions and may not be able to support it."

Once the grant runs out, city officials said, they are not sure how they would fund the positions if the economy has not improved.

"One thing to remember is at least we've bought a little bit of time," acting Fire Chief Bill Whealan said. "We hope the economy is getting better."

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