Fla. fire department to add 30 volunteer firefighters with FEMA grant

By Maria Perez
The Naples Daily News

IMMOKALEE, Fla. — The rebounding but still undermanned Immokalee fire district will be getting some volunteer help thanks to a federal grant that will allow them to train 30 firefighter candidates who commit to volunteer at the district's stations.

The district has 21 full-time firefighters and can't afford to hire more, Immokalee Fire Chief Paul Anderson said. That means only two paid firefighters are available at any time at each of the three stations in Immokalee and Ave Maria to cover 234 square miles.

"Every time we respond to a fire, it's challenging because we don't have enough staffing," Anderson said. "The only way for us to get more people in the fire stations is engaging volunteers."

Immokalee fire already pays six of its firefighters with another Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant that will end in August.

This year the district was awarded a $457,942 SAFER grant over four years to recruit volunteers, pay the salary and benefits of a full-time training officer and volunteer coordinator and pay for the costs of sending up to 30 volunteers to complete their training in fire academies.

In exchange, the candidates have to agree to volunteer at least 36 hours per month for two years starting when they enroll in the program, which lasts an average of 14 weeks, Anderson said.

"This is a foot in the door for them to get a full-time job as a firefighter," said Anderson, who added that the department has 10 volunteers already enrolled in the program but withheld accepting more applications until the volunteer coordinator is hired, likely by the end of July.

The Immokalee district also is getting a $109,550 grant to replace radios, and Anderson plans to reapply for the FEMA grant that pays six firefighters.

The district continues to rebuild after a 2011 budget crisis. At that time, the department lost seven firefighter positions through layoffs and buyouts, the department's fire inspector was laid off, remaining staff took pay cuts and demotions, and then-Chief Scott Birge was fired. Immokalee fire commissioners temporarily turned administrative and operational leadership over to the Big Corkscrew fire district.

Immokalee is not the only Southwest Florida fire district getting FEMA help to hire staff, recruit volunteers and replace equipment.

Since 2012, fire districts in Collier County were awarded at least $5.4 million from the federal agency, according to FEMA. Lee County fire districts received grants worth at least $15.5 million during that period.

The Immokalee district has been awarded $1.3 millions in FEMA grants since 2012. It's budget for Fiscal 2013-2014 is about $6 million.

The Golden Gate and East Naples fire districts haven't received any FEMA grants this year, but have been awarded more than $3.3 million combined since 2012, most of it to hire 24 full-time firefighters for two years that end in September, said Fire Chief Kingman Schuldt, who oversees both districts.

He is hoping to get a grant this year to upgrade their radio equipment and another to hire a fire and life safety specialist who would go out to the community and provide smoke detectors to low-income residents. They will also reapply for a grant to continue funding the full-time firefighters positions although, he said, their budget for the next five years looks good.

"If we get these grants, that will allow us to put some money back in the infrastructure," said Schuldt.

Wealthier districts have also been awarded FEMA grants. North Naples fire received almost half a million dollars to renew portable and mobile radios and air packs since 2012.

"This is tax money that our residents didn't have to pay," Fire Chief Orly Stolts said.

North Naples doesn't apply for the SAFER grants that help departments hire firefighters because departments that laid off staff or are preparing to let them go have priority, said Stolts. For the equipment, he said, the district has to show economic need, but also that the equipment is needed. Their air packs, for example, were no longer in compliance. The districts also pay a percentage of the total cost of the equipment.

Stolts warned that competing for SAFER grants has become more complicated as big districts are starting to apply for them and get a big chunk. The Miami-Dade fire district was awarded a SAFER grant worth $11 million at the end of 2013, for example.

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(c)2014 the Naples Daily News (Naples, Fla.)

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