Grant to help put laid-off firefighters back to work in Calif.

By Jennifer Squires
San Jose Mercury News

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — Three laid-off firefighters will be hired by the Santa Cruz Fire Department this spring, thanks to a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The Fire Department was one of 200 fire agencies nationwide that won the federal funding, which will pay the salary and benefits for three full-time firefighters for two years, according to Santa Cruz Fire Chief Ron Oliver.

The City Council is expected to approve the $753,328 grant today.

"I think it's going to happen," Oliver said.

The department left three firefighter positions unfilled July 1, part of cost-saving measures for the cash-strapped city. The positions opened due to retirements, not layoffs, Oliver noted.

Freezing those jobs will save the city about $400,000 this fiscal year, according to the fire chief.

But using the FEMA grant to hire three firefighters that lost their jobs at other agencies during the economic downturn will save the city even more. To fully staff the Fire Department, firefighters had to be brought in on overtime this year, Oliver said.

"It should be a tremendous cost savings for the city," he said.

The 90-day hiring process should be complete by the end of June. A condition of the grant is that the city cannot lay off any firefighters in the next two years.

"We made a commitment to try to fill those jobs with displaced firefighters," Oliver said. "There's quite a few of them out there." The Fire Department also applied for a second FEMA grant to purchase a new fire truck, but has yet to hear if the department will be awarded that money, Oliver said.

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