Grant restores some lost Calif. responder positions

Funds mean a fifth ambulance for the city of Hesperia

The Daily Press

HESPERIA, Calif. — A federal grant will enable the San Bernardino Fire Department to increase the number of response units and personnel after budget cuts forced the closure of Hesperia Fire Station 301 last January.

When fire station 301, located on 11th Avenue, south of Main Street, closed in January 2012 it resulted in increased response times throughout the city and only two fire engines to serve its population of 90,000, according to San Bernardino County Fire Department spokeswoman Tracey Martinez.

The Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response, or SAFER grant, is geared to aid public safety agencies that have been forced to cut resources as a result of budget constraints, and will allow a new engine, Medic Ambulance 301 and Medic Engine 301, to begin serving Hesperia next week.

“This addition is going to allow us to better serve the community,” said Division Chief Britt Sipe.

As a result of the grant Medic Engine 40 in Oak Hills, which is responsible for the southwest section of Hesperia, will add an engineer to each of its three shifts, Martinez said.

Staffing will increase from two each day to three, and include a captain, engineer and a firefighter paramedic.

The grant term is for two years, a period that anticipates economic recovery and bridges the gap, until local governments have the ability to fully fund fire resources.

Georgia Graham, a management analyst for the city of Hesperia and Mike Leonard, a former Hesperia firefighter and city council member, were instrumental in obtaining the SAFER grant, Sipe said.

The grant will increase Hesperia’s fire resources to a total of three fire engines with advanced life support/paramedic capabilities and five paramedic ambulances, according to Sipe.

“This fifth ambulance is a vital addition to the city due to the steady increase in calls over the past years,” Sipe said.