HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/06/2010, C 9 - ASSISTANCE TO FIREFIGHTERS GRANT APPLICATION FOR 2010 council 7/6/10
j agenba aepont 1�Nb. e9
CITY O F SAN LUIS O B I S P O
FROM: John Callahan, Fire Chief
Prepared By: Julie Cox, Administrative Analyst
SUBJECT: ASSISTANCE TO FIREFIGHTERS GRANT APPLICATION
FOR 2010
RECOMMENDATION
1. Authorize staff to submit a grant application$217,559 to the Federal Assistance to
Firefighters Grant Program to fund training for fire suppression personnel.
2. If grant is awarded, authorize the City Manager to accept and appropriate the
funds to Fire Department Training budget.
DISCUSSION
State and federal grants are occasionally offered to assist local governments with the
financial impacts associated with daily operations and/or mandated programs. The
Federal Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program is one of these programs. The primary
goal of the grant program is to help fire departments meet their firefighting and
emergency response needs. In fiscal year 2010, Congress appropriated $390 million for
this grant program, reduced from$565 million in 2009.
Since the Fire Department's training budget has been reduced, the Department is
committed to actively seeking grants to support training and other department needs.
Training classes included in the grant proposal have been identified as the mandated and
required training that provide the greatest benefit to the community and the department.
This request would train 100% of applicable personnel in the following mandated and
required training:
1. Rescue Systems 1 Class (provide training to 2 firefighters, 40 hour class, total
cost $6,180). Provided by the California Office of the State Fire Marshal. This
class will allow the department to meet the Light Operational Capability for
Urban Search and Rescue(US&R) as defined by Federal Emergency Management
Agency(FEMA) and in ICS-US&R-120-1. This would allow the firefighters to
operate on the California Emergency Management Agency(Cal EMA, formerly
known as California Operations of Emergency Services)fire engine which is rated
as a US&R Type 3 Light (Heavy) Rescue.
2. Rescue Systems 2 Class(provide training to 30 firefighters, 40 hour class, total
cost $175,800). Provided by the California Office of the State Fire Marshal. The
CN
2007 Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program Page 2
City's firefighters will need to successfully complete the Rescue Systems-II class
for the department to operate at the Medium Operational Level Capability of US
& R response as specified by ICS-US&R-120-1. Currently, only 30% of the
firefighters are trained to this level. This level of training is required for
firefighters to operate with the City's new Type 2 Medium(Heavy) Rescue
Trailer and is considered the industry standard for a community the size of San
Luis Obispo. This class requires a specialized training facility with elaborate
props used to simulate collapsed buildings and structures. The closest such
facility is in Southern California approximately four hours south of San Luis
Obispo County.
3. Hazardous Materials Incident Commander Class (provided training to 4
Battalion Chiefs, 24 hour class, total cost$13,212). This class is the State
mandated training level to be incident commander on a hazardous material
incident, as described in Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations, §5192.
This regulation requires all Chief Officers to have attended this class.
4. Tiller Driver Training Class(24 firefighters, 16 hour class, $21,600). Onsite
training for Engineers and Truck Company Personnel by an outside contract
instructor that will provide testing and certification. This training will allow the
department to train its firefighters to operate a tiller ladder truck as required in the
Fair Labor Standards Act General Duty Clause. A replacement truck has arrived
and is equipped with a 100-foot ladder to adequately plan for the City's fire
service needs over the next twenty years. The department is able to bring
instructors in and provide the training on duty for six straight days which lowers
the cost tremendously. However, the department will have to run two of these
classes in order to train all of the truck personnel and all of the engineers.
FISCAL IMPACT
If the City were to receive full grant funding from the Federal Assistance to Firefighters
Grant Program for its requested $217,559 it will be required to match the Federal grant
funds equal to 10% of the total project cost. The matching funds will be covered by funds
from the 2010-11 Fire Department budget. There would be no additional cost to the
General Fund.
ALTERNATIVE
The Council could decide not to pursue the grant monies. This is not recommended as
fire service grant opportunities are limited and the grant funds would only serve to
enhance the effectiveness of the Fire.Department.
T:\Council Agenda Report\Fire CAR\CAR-2010 FEMA Grant Program 7.6.10
C9-�