Grants help Calif. dept. reopen station, hire 9 firefighters

By Jessica A. York/ Times-Herald staff writer

Bolstered by federal grants, the cash-strapped Vallejo Fire Department is set to hire nine new firefighters and reopen one of its three shuttered stations.

Pending Vallejo City Council approval next month, the two-year $3.6 million federal grant would begin restoring some of the city's lost staffing and facilities in the coming months, Interim Chief Paige Meyer said this week.

"I need to always find ways to generate revenue and take advantage of grants," Meyer said. "That's just ... a reality for the Vallejo Fire Department. We will consistently strive to be able to fund ourselves without going into the general fund or going over our budget."

The pending new SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response) grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's office follows on the heels of another SAFER grant awarded earlier this year.

Three firefighters were hired in June with a grant that will increase one engine's staffing to a preferred four firefighters on each of three shifts. Those new hires, along with three others hired to fill department vacancies, are about three weeks into a 15-week training program.

Both SAFER grants last two years. They are designed to "bridge the gap" during tough financial times in the city, Meyer said. He added that if new funding -- from the city or other grants -- does not surface before the grants' completion, fire department retirements and attrition could leave vacancies for the new hires to fill.

"It really is a bridge, and we're trying to build a bridge to a brighter economic future down the road, which hopefully we'll see sooner rather than later," Meyer said.

Of the nine fire companies Vallejo had at its peak, four have been shut down in three stations since early 2008.

Meyer said he and department officials are analyzing call volume statistics to determine which station to reopen. Other station shuffling may also occur, as officials analyze the previous year's call records, Meyer said.

Station 25, located in North Vallejo on Mini Drive, is a likely candidate for reopening, Meyer said.

"We plan on putting our resources where they're most appropriate, where we're going to be able to respond to those areas," Meyer said.

In addition to the coming new hires, a city report issued by Interim City Manager Phil Batchelor for this week's council meeting reveals ongoing efforts to plan physical improvement for aging fire stations. Earthquake retrofit planning may come up for Council review as early as October, according to the report. Other projects discussed in the report, like consolidating police and fire administrative services in to a unified public safety building, are further down the line, Meyer said.

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