Okla. city awaits word on firefighter grant

By Brian Barber
TheTulsa World

TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa officials hope to receive confirmation this week that the city will get a $4.2 million federal grant to hire 46 new firefighters, the Tulsa World learned Friday. "It's pretty certain we're going to get it, but we're waiting for formal notification," Fire Chief Allen Lacroix said. "This would go a long way toward covering our attrition rate and adding to our manpower."

The city has about 631 firefighters, compared with 676 in December 2009, because of the suspension of firefighter academies for more than two years. The force has an attrition rate of 20 to 24 firefighters per year.

Early word from U.S. Rep. John Sullivan and Sen. Jim Inhofe's offices indicates that the grant's outlook is positive, according to the Mayor's Office.

The city applied last year for the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, or SAFER, grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The money would cover the new firefighters' salaries and benefits for two years. There are no provisions in the grant that the city must keep the firefighters beyond then, if economic conditions worsen.

If the grant comes through, it stipulates that an academy would have to begin within 90 days. It takes 16 weeks of training for new recruits to become full-fledged firefighters.

Mayor Dewey Bartlett said increasing the Fire Department's staffing level has "a multiplier of good effects on our community." "It allows us to send a greater number of firefighters to respond to emergencies and keep the response time as short as possible," he said. "It also allows us to continue with public safety education and help keep homeowners' property insurance costs stable." Bartlett said the recession affected the city's ability to maintain its fire protection services and that applying for the grant was in Tulsa's best interest.

No fire academies were budgeted for this fiscal year.

Finance Director Mike Kier said that the budget process for next fiscal year, which begins July 1, already has begun and that having more fire academies would be a consideration. The ongoing costs to the city of these new firefighters, once the expected grant ends, must be factored in, he said. Continued academies, LaCroix said, are critical to maintaining the manpower level. "Right now, we are running as efficient as we can run," he said.

Last October, hundreds of firefighter hopefuls lined up at Tulsa's Safety Training Center to fill out applications. Out of the 346 applicants, all but four were charged a $25 application fee that later had to be refunded by the city because officials did not follow the correct process for getting the fee authorized. The four who were not charged the application fee had it waived because they could not afford it.

Copyright 2011 The Tulsa World