The Fresno Fire Department (FFD) will hold a press conference on Thursday, August 25, at 8:30 a.m., at Fire Headquarters (located at 911 H Street) to announce the receipt of a SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) grant awarded to the City of Fresno earlier this month. Fire Chief Kerri Donis and Congressman Jim Costa will be in attendance.
This SAFER grant, which was awarded to the City of Fresno on August 15, 2016, enables the Fire Department to fill 12 firefighter positions, growing its firefighting force of 73 to 77 on-duty firefighters each day. This growth in minimum daily staffing is a significant step in the rebuilding of the Fresno Fire Department.
“I’m pleased to see that our efforts to rebuild our fire department in an aggressive and sustainable manner are continuing to bear fruit,” said Mayor Swearengin. “While the numbers are still short of where we want to be, it’s a dramatic improvement over our lowest staffing levels during the recession and more good news as we continue to provide additional manpower and resources for our first responders.”
The SAFER Grant was created to provide funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations to help increase or maintain the number of trained, “front line” firefighters available in their communities. The goal of SAFER is to enhance the abilities of local fire departments to comply with staffing and response, as well as fulfill the operational standards established by the NFPA (NFPA 1710 and/or NFPA 1720).
Rep. Costa added, “Fire Chief Kerri Donis and the firefighters with the Fresno Fire Department work diligently every single day to keep our city safe, and they must have adequate resources to prevent and respond to fires and emergencies. I proudly support federal funding for the SAFER Grant program and I am pleased that the Fresno Fire Department will continue to receive this critical grant funding to help ensure that Fresno has enough firefighters to respond to emergencies in our community.”