BACK UP TO SPEED
$1.4M grant to fund new firefighter positions
The City of Yuma Fire Department has received notice that it has been awarded a $1.4 million grant from the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER), which will be used to hire nine new firefighters.
Money from the grant will help pay for the salaries and benefits for the nine positions for the next three years, according to fire department spokesperson Mike Erfert.
He added what the grant is essentially doing is allowing the fire department to bring a ladder truck, which had no personnel assigned to it, back into service.
“We are excited that this grant was awarded to the city of Yuma,” said Fire Chief Steve Irr. “This will allow our department to get back to its full strength after having to cut an apparatus.”
The ladder truck, along with the threeperson crew for each of three shifts, was taken out of service on Jan. 4 due to budget constraints. Moved from Station No. 2 at 3284 S. Avenue A, it is currently parked at Station No. 5, which is located at 6490 E. 26th St. off of Araby Road.
With it’s budget down roughly $2 million from the previous fiscal year, the city was hoping voters last year would approve Proposition 407, a sales tax increase that would have netted an estimated $6 million annually to be used by the fire and police departments, and on public roads, but the measure failed.
City Administrator Greg Wilkinson explained that the city will provide a 25 percent match in funds for the grant in the first two years and 65 percent in the third and final year.
The SAFER grant aims to improve staffing and deployment capabilities for local fire departments so they can respond to emergencies more effectively.
Erfert said the grant and the grant award renewal still needs to be officially accepted and will be placed on a future city council meeting agenda. The fire department was notified about the grant on Friday.